Till The End Of All
By CyberDracomon
Chapter 16 - Peril
An hour passed before the group was confident that Ragnadramon's minions had left. They were still close to the temple, well within it's protective cloak's range, resting from the hard climb. As it was the long walk uphill wore them out but the climbing drained so much from them that nobody was in any hurry to move. Davis was up and about, the most athletic of the group, as were the Digimon that had easier times, either by flight or being carried. Kari was still at rest, in a light sleep, her head laying on TK's lap as he sat behind her. He was tired, as well, but his concern for Kari made it easy to ignore.
"...Something just hit me." Davis said, looking over at TK. "When we were in that cave, Ragnadramon had an easy shot at us, we couldn't have gotten clear if his blast filled the cave... Why just trap us?" TK felt his heart skip a beat, just now realizing that himself. It was a detail he hadn't thought about, he told Ragnadramon to stop them without killing them but he neglected to think of how that sudden strategy change would make sense. Gatomon, Patamon, and Veemon now glanced at TK, without answers of their own they turned to him to find the logical reason. He felt a slight chill through his spine as their stares met his eyes, no answer immediately coming to mind.
"...He's an evil Digimon, he probably didn't have reason for it." TK said after a minute. "Maybe he wanted us to die slowly in there instead of finishing us off fast." That seemed to satisfy Davis and Veemon, both looking away, looking at the view from the summit. Patamon and Gatomon looked at each other, however, maybe a little more skeptical, but not arguing the point any further. TK was hoping that question wouldn't come up, with Ragnadramon's attempt failing he wouldn't have to worry about it anymore. It wasn't like he could just say why Ragnadramon didn't try to finish them off, even with the reasons he had nobody would forgive him, especially Kari.
A slight moan came from below TK suddenly. He looked down at Kari, who was now starting to stir, her eyes slightly opened now. The others caught this and stepped over, with Davis kneeling down near her.
"How are you feeling?" Gatomon asked, the closest to her besides TK. She sat up, now opening her eyes completely. She looked over at Gatomon, smiling faintly.
"As long as we're done climbing I'll be fine." She said, drawing a small giggle from Gatomon. Kari stood, slowly at first, with TK and Davis standing up just after her. "Are we in the clear?" Davis nodded to her, somewhat proud of the fact.
"Yeah, we're in the barrier of the temple, they can't see us even if they did come back." TK explained. Kari took a few steps away from the temple, her legs still a little sore from the hard climb, looking out over the edge of the summit. It was a sight to behold as mountains stretched out in every direction, every shape and size all within one view. She found it hard to breathe now that she thought of it, because of the height of the mountain they were on the air was much thinner. It was probably why their climb was so hard and why she still wasn't feeling as well as she should.
"Kari, maybe you should take it easy..." Patamon said, looking on with concern. "You were really worn out when we got you up here and that couldn't have been more than an hour ago." Kari hadn't realized so little time passed since she blacked out. As far as she knew it could have been a day since their climb.
"Maybe..." She said. "Taking a Guardian's energy does wear me out easily even when I'm not tired... But we can't wait long, either, Ragnadramon's minions were desperate to stop us this time, we need to get the energy as soon as we can." TK couldn't help but worry about how much this is might hurt Kari, he had seen her after taking a Guardian's energy and she always looked dead tired afterwards, as it was she didn't look good.
"...We'll wait as long as it takes." TK said suddenly, drawing the attention of the others. "We're here, right? Ragnadramon can't find the temple, his attempt to stop us already failed. We can wait as long as it takes for you to feel well again, Kari, we can't risk that taking the energy while your tired won't hurt you." Kari wished she could argue against TK, but he had a stern look in his eyes, one she knew she couldn't argue against. She kneeled down, then shifted her legs to sit down on the edge of the plateau to wait. Knowing TK it would be hours before he was sure that she was rested enough, meaning she was in for a long, impatient wait.
**********
Meanwhile in a dimension of the Digiworld unknown to most, two dark-colored Digimon walked side by side across an almost unseen floor, the only visible area being in their immediate area where the ground was slightly illuminated. The rest of the area was pitch black, an empty void in every direction except down. The two were BlackGatomon and Tsukaimon, both walking quickly and with agitated looks on their faces. Eventually their walk brought them to Ragnadramon, who had his back to the two small Digimon.
"Okay, time for an explanation!" BlackGatomon shouted. "We had those humans cornered twice and both times you called us off!" Ragnadramon slowly turned to face them, his massive reptilian form an overwhelming sight. His eyes glowed, already glaring.
"...You dare question my orders, BlackGatomon?" He said, his echoing voice booming slightly. The black cat Digimon didn't back down, any fear having been removed from her.
"We don't question them, we just don't get why you told us to pass up perfect opportunities!" Tsukaimon said. "First was the cave, one side sealed off and me on the other, and all you wanted was a cave-in? It would have been easy just to fire Nail Bones into the cave, they would have been helpless!" BlackGatomon glanced at Tsukaimon, somewhat surprised the small Digimon stood up to their master so well. Her glare returned to the dragon Digimon, the question half finished.
"Then at the summit..." BlackGatomon continued. "We saw the map at the same time you did, we saw them and the temple just fine! They thought they were safe, they would have been off guard!" Ragnadramon suddenly roared fiercely, making both his minions take a few steps back. When the roar ended Ragnadramon glared down at them, eyes burning brightly.
"The Cataclysm spawned you to follow my orders without question, it is for that reason alone you exist." He said sternly. "If I did not need you for the coming battle, I would crush you for questioning me..." With that the dragon turned back around, his attention returning to whatever he was doing when they arrived. BlackGatomon and Tsukaimon glanced at each other before stepping forward again.
"I'm sorry, my master, but we just wanted to know..." BlackGatomon said, now much more quiet than before. Ragnadramon turned his head just enough to look at them again over his shoulder, then turned back again.
"Come, observe." He said simply. Tsukaimon hesitantly took flight, flying upwards toward Ragnadramon's left shoulder, finding a seat there. BlackGatomon followed, climbing up Ragnadramon's tail and then his back, using the scales for traction. Once both were seated, they looked down into what looked like the summit with the temple, viewed through a break in dimension Ragnadramon could create. However, the image was dark, lacking much of it's color, like they were looking through the dark dimension.
"This way we can observe them without them seeing us." The dragon explained. The view from the hole changed, now looking specifically at Kari, still looking tired. "You see, my minions, we are at war with this girl... and no fool ever won a war by brute force alone. War is won by the smartest side, thus we will defeat her and her companions through strategy. And to answer your question, we took no easy chances because war is always better won when one side begins to fall under it's own mistakes... We will toy with them, break them down, and when they have suffered as much as possible... crush them." The two cloned Digimon wasn't sure what he meant by that, but they were intrigued, now looking on through the hole in reality with renewed interest.
**********
Three hours had passed and the sun was just starting to set in the Digital World, which was a spectacular view from the mountain peek. The band of Digidestined and Digimon were now all at the edge, looking out over the northern region of the Digital World as the setting sun's light almost shined off all of the mountain peeks around them and the lower clouds that were so close to them.
"TK, we can't put it off any longer..." Kari said, taking a second to stand back up. "I feel fine, I'm ready." TK dreaded this now. In such a scenery he had hoped he would have more time to just enjoy it with Kari, but given the situation she was too determined to finish their mission here.
"...alright, Kari." TK said, finally relenting. "Collect Duchoumon's energy, we'll return home then." Kari nodded to TK, turning and starting her walk to the temple. Gatomon glanced toward Patamon, who nodded, signaling her to follow. The feline Digimon stood and followed after Kari, both entering the temple and leaving the males of their group to themselves.
With the girls gone Veemon stood and walked away from Davis, who was caught up in the view of the red mountains below. Veemon turned and looked at Patamon, who was looking backwards now, and indicated for him to follow, again turning and walking off. Patamon looked on, wondering what he wanted before taking to the air to follow after him. Veemon stopped at the opposite edge of the plateau, close to the temple, with Patamon landing just behind him, walking over to stand a few feet to his side.
"You're usually not the one to talk in private, what's up?" The orange Digimon asked curiously. Veemon glanced over at him, an expression as serious as Patamon had ever seen on him. The glance didn't last long as he turned to look out over the edge.
"I know, but this is kind of personal." Veemon admitted, further confusing Patamon. "...what is it like to be in love?" The smaller Digimon was taken back a little by the question, it wasn't like Veemon at all.
"I thought we went over that a while ago." Patamon said. "You said yourself you had a crush on Gatomon." Veemon shook his head at Patamon's misunderstanding.
"Exactly, a crush, nothing more." Veemon explained. "I've seen you two, what you two have I don't think I could have ever had. At least not with Gatomon. Like when we were all at Kari's place making plans and Kari said Gatomon was in danger of dying when she did. I saw your reaction, the look in your eyes... That's emotion I couldn't have had, not at that level." Patamon wasn't sure what to say, or if he could even take in everything Veemon just told him. He didn't realize his friend could have such depth to him.
"Well I don't think you're incapable of it." Patamon said. "You just don't have the chance to find the right girl. Remember most of the time we were going around the Digital World Gatomon was the only female Digimon around and it's not like you have much time to look following Davis around." Veemon agreed that was true at least, thought he still doubted it somewhat.
"Maybe, but there's other limitations." The blue Digimon continued. "Like how only a few Digimon are even capable of love, it's so rare what are the chances I'm one of them?" Now Patamon was the one shaking his head, dispelling that idea from his own mind.
"I don't think that's true at all." He said. "The Digital World is so vast and there's so many Digimon around I think most just don't get the chance to find another Digimon they can have that connection with. After experiencing it for myself, I'm positive nothing is incapable of it." Veemon smiled, reassured by his friend's words.
"Alright, but you still haven't answered me." Veemon said. "What's it like? I mean I know what a crush feels like, but what about real love?" Again Patamon found himself at a loss for words, finding it hard to find ones that described it all.
"Well, it's like..." Patamon said, forced to stop as the words failed to come. "It's like... well, I don't know, it's so hard to describe... I mean when you're with someone you love, you get this feeling in you that makes you happy and makes everything else seem unimportant. It's like you have a connection to someone that's so strong you feel like they're as attached to you as an arm or a leg. But it's so much more, I just... I don't have the words for it all." Veemon was finding this hard to imagine, was it possible to be that connected with someone?
"Let me know if you ever find the right words, I really want to know for myself." Veemon admitted. Patamon nodded at him, then turned to look back out over the area, taking in the scenery. He thought about it more, still unable to come up with any combination of words that described it well enough. Maybe it was something you couldn't describe and had to experience, but he wanted Veemon to know somehow. Maybe he just had to look hard enough...
**********
A half hour of silenced passed, no sign of Kari emerging from the temple and not a word passed between Davis and TK. Neither thought it would take this long and didn't bother starting conversation, but as the time got on and the boredom grew, it was inevitable.
"TK, I don't mean to complain..." Davis started, his curiosity finally getting the better of him. He had been thinking about TK's change of attitude since they began their trip today and couldn't shake this bad feeling he had about it. "...Did something change the other day that I'm not aware of? You've gone this whole time up the mountain without trying to get Kari to stop and find another way to do this, I thought on the last leg of the trip you would be the most determined." TK knew either Davis or Kari would get to this question eventually, he had been thinking about how to respond to it for a while now, since he first joined Kari and Davis today. Before he did it with the security that his pact with Ragnadramon that would keep Kari from dying, but with his attempt failing, he was back to worrying about her fate. Any excuse he had now was a lie, but what else could he say to explain?
"...it's hard to explain." TK said after a moment of silence, stalling. "...Before all of this I was just thinking of myself and how I would feel over this, I wasn't thinking of everyone who was going to be saved from this mission's outcome. Remember this morning when Kari pulled me into her room? She explained why she was doing this, all the people and Digimon this was saving... It kind of brought things into perspective." At least that answer was honest, she did make him realize the magnitude of their quest and it really was a reason to no longer question it.
"I was wondering what that was about..." Davis said, referring to why Kari wanted to talk to TK alone. "It sounds like how she got me to agree to this..." TK looked over at Davis, his curiosity now raised. After how long it took him to accept this fate Kari had agreed to, he never thought about how Davis was convinced. "She sent me an e-mail to explain everything. She explained the whole situation, and then the quest, then why she was doing it... By the time she got around to telling me it would cost her life it wasn't nearly as much of a shock as it probably was for you. In fact the way she explained it, even before she said she would die, I was expecting it." TK listened with interest as Davis explained. It did sound like Kari, the way she would explain such a situation, putting the importance first and herself last. The more he thought about it, the more sides he found until one eventually drew a chuckle out of him, surprising Davis.
"Now you're laughing?" Davis said in mild confusion, looking over at his friend. TK smirked, his chucking ended.
"It just seems kind of odd." TK said. "How many other girls to you think there are that can talk two different guys into risking their lives to help her on a suicide mission?" Davis had a blank look on his face for a second before smiling and chuckling himself.
"No kidding." He said, agreeing. "And since we're both dashing young heroes of this story, I'll have to try extra hard to get the girl before it's over." TK shot Davis a stern glare from the comment, making Davis cower back a little. TK kept the glare for a few seconds before his stern look faded, giving way to a laugh. Davis's look fell the same way, with both now laughing out loud. It was nice finding a way to be jovial during such a hard time that should be filled with despair. Since starting this quest TK didn't think he had a good laugh, it was certainly needed by now.
"Guys! Come quick!" A yell behind them said. The laughter died down as both Davis and TK looked over their shoulders to see Gatomon, who was now over by Patamon and Veemon. It was too far to hear what she was telling them, but once she was done and had turned to them, the two Digimon were already running toward the temple entrance. TK and Davis both stood, watching Gatomon as she came close.
"Guys, something's wrong in the temple, come quick!" Gatomon said. She was obviously in a hurry as she didn't stick around to explain. The two teens glanced at each other, both seeing the worry in the others face, before following after Gatomon, running their fastest to keep up with her feline pace.
**********
TK and Davis were quick to arrive in the inner chamber of the temple. It appeared just like the other ones, a large dome room with moss on some of the walls from the age and many cracks in the stones that made up the room. The stone had a red hue to it, probably from being so close to the phoenix Digimon Duchoumon for so long. In the center stood Kari, in front of the altar that was in the middle of the circular room, her Digivice already placed in the altar to receive the last share of energy.
"Kari, what's wrong?" TK asked with concern. She looked okay from what he could see and there wasn't anything but them in the room. She turned around, a confused and worried expression on her face.
"It's Duchoumon." She responded. "I've been waiting here since I first entered the temple, my D-3 has been sitting there since and nothing... He should have appeared a long time ago." TK looked over at the altar that the D-3 rested on, then up at the ceiling. The stone spire that pointed from the roof toward the altar was fine, everything looked like it was okay. But if nothing was broken, what was the problem?
"Well Duchoumon is supposed to be the strongest guardian..." Patamon said, who was also looking around. "Maybe there's some rules or limitations we don't know about..." Kari looked down at Patamon, a doubtful look in her eyes.
"I'm sure one of the other guardians would have warned us..." She replied. "I just have this really bad feeling something is wrong... Maybe it's too late, what if the Cataclysm's already beginning?" TK stepped up behind Kari, putting both arms around her waist to comfort her.
"You're worrying too much, if that was true they wouldn't have bothered to try to stop us." TK said, trying to reassure her. Kari put both hands on TK's which were at the middle of her waist.
"I hope you're right..." She said. "I just have a bad feeling about it, that's all." TK gave the room another quick glance, again finding nothing that could be damaged. Maybe it was something outside, but at the top of a mountain what could happen to it?
"Well there's one advantage now." Davis said, finished with his own inspection. "We've got the use of the monitor outside, right? We won't have to climb back up, we can just leave, hit another temple to ask a guardian what's wrong, then come back and fix it." The rest of the group turned their eyes to Davis, honestly surprised at the good idea.
"That's an idea." TK said. "You see, Kari? We can find out what went wrong in no time and stop worrying about it." Kari thought about it for a second before smiling.
"Alright, let's go." She said, her fear subsiding. "We can go back to visit Ebonwumon,
he should know whatever the problem is." Kari lifted a hand to the altar, picking up her D-3 and replacing it in her pocket. TK released his embrace as Kari turned around, again lightly smiling. He was glad to see that smile again, so close to the end he was afraid he wouldn't get to see it again. TK turned to see Veemon and Davis were heading out already and Patamon and Gatomon by the exit waiting for them. TK took Kari's hand as the two walked out, their Digimon following close behind.
As they approached the exit, the group saw Davis and Veemon standing outside, their backs to the exit, both looking up. Nobody was sure what the two were doing until they also emerged from the temple, with a full view of what was above them. Floating above was Ragnadramon, glaring down directly at them. His minions Tsukaimon and BlackGatomon rode on his shoulders, both also watching. This had no question to it, they could see them, the temple's cloak was no longer a factor. TK immediately felt a sense of dread as he looked up at the dragon Digimon, who glared back down, a sinister smirk on his reptilian face. The blonde haired teen doubted this encounter would end as peacefully as their previous one.
End Chapter 16
Coming Next: Chapter 17 - Questions
Special Note: Here I would normally put a URL that would direct you to a mailing list that would notify you when a new chapter of this story was posted or if I posted a new story. Unfortunately it appears that since posting Chapter 15, Fanfiction.Net has changed their system to filter out URLs. So instead I have put the link in my Author Profile, you can get there by clicking my pen name at the top of the page. From now on you'll only see a reminder here.
By CyberDracomon
Chapter 16 - Peril
An hour passed before the group was confident that Ragnadramon's minions had left. They were still close to the temple, well within it's protective cloak's range, resting from the hard climb. As it was the long walk uphill wore them out but the climbing drained so much from them that nobody was in any hurry to move. Davis was up and about, the most athletic of the group, as were the Digimon that had easier times, either by flight or being carried. Kari was still at rest, in a light sleep, her head laying on TK's lap as he sat behind her. He was tired, as well, but his concern for Kari made it easy to ignore.
"...Something just hit me." Davis said, looking over at TK. "When we were in that cave, Ragnadramon had an easy shot at us, we couldn't have gotten clear if his blast filled the cave... Why just trap us?" TK felt his heart skip a beat, just now realizing that himself. It was a detail he hadn't thought about, he told Ragnadramon to stop them without killing them but he neglected to think of how that sudden strategy change would make sense. Gatomon, Patamon, and Veemon now glanced at TK, without answers of their own they turned to him to find the logical reason. He felt a slight chill through his spine as their stares met his eyes, no answer immediately coming to mind.
"...He's an evil Digimon, he probably didn't have reason for it." TK said after a minute. "Maybe he wanted us to die slowly in there instead of finishing us off fast." That seemed to satisfy Davis and Veemon, both looking away, looking at the view from the summit. Patamon and Gatomon looked at each other, however, maybe a little more skeptical, but not arguing the point any further. TK was hoping that question wouldn't come up, with Ragnadramon's attempt failing he wouldn't have to worry about it anymore. It wasn't like he could just say why Ragnadramon didn't try to finish them off, even with the reasons he had nobody would forgive him, especially Kari.
A slight moan came from below TK suddenly. He looked down at Kari, who was now starting to stir, her eyes slightly opened now. The others caught this and stepped over, with Davis kneeling down near her.
"How are you feeling?" Gatomon asked, the closest to her besides TK. She sat up, now opening her eyes completely. She looked over at Gatomon, smiling faintly.
"As long as we're done climbing I'll be fine." She said, drawing a small giggle from Gatomon. Kari stood, slowly at first, with TK and Davis standing up just after her. "Are we in the clear?" Davis nodded to her, somewhat proud of the fact.
"Yeah, we're in the barrier of the temple, they can't see us even if they did come back." TK explained. Kari took a few steps away from the temple, her legs still a little sore from the hard climb, looking out over the edge of the summit. It was a sight to behold as mountains stretched out in every direction, every shape and size all within one view. She found it hard to breathe now that she thought of it, because of the height of the mountain they were on the air was much thinner. It was probably why their climb was so hard and why she still wasn't feeling as well as she should.
"Kari, maybe you should take it easy..." Patamon said, looking on with concern. "You were really worn out when we got you up here and that couldn't have been more than an hour ago." Kari hadn't realized so little time passed since she blacked out. As far as she knew it could have been a day since their climb.
"Maybe..." She said. "Taking a Guardian's energy does wear me out easily even when I'm not tired... But we can't wait long, either, Ragnadramon's minions were desperate to stop us this time, we need to get the energy as soon as we can." TK couldn't help but worry about how much this is might hurt Kari, he had seen her after taking a Guardian's energy and she always looked dead tired afterwards, as it was she didn't look good.
"...We'll wait as long as it takes." TK said suddenly, drawing the attention of the others. "We're here, right? Ragnadramon can't find the temple, his attempt to stop us already failed. We can wait as long as it takes for you to feel well again, Kari, we can't risk that taking the energy while your tired won't hurt you." Kari wished she could argue against TK, but he had a stern look in his eyes, one she knew she couldn't argue against. She kneeled down, then shifted her legs to sit down on the edge of the plateau to wait. Knowing TK it would be hours before he was sure that she was rested enough, meaning she was in for a long, impatient wait.
**********
Meanwhile in a dimension of the Digiworld unknown to most, two dark-colored Digimon walked side by side across an almost unseen floor, the only visible area being in their immediate area where the ground was slightly illuminated. The rest of the area was pitch black, an empty void in every direction except down. The two were BlackGatomon and Tsukaimon, both walking quickly and with agitated looks on their faces. Eventually their walk brought them to Ragnadramon, who had his back to the two small Digimon.
"Okay, time for an explanation!" BlackGatomon shouted. "We had those humans cornered twice and both times you called us off!" Ragnadramon slowly turned to face them, his massive reptilian form an overwhelming sight. His eyes glowed, already glaring.
"...You dare question my orders, BlackGatomon?" He said, his echoing voice booming slightly. The black cat Digimon didn't back down, any fear having been removed from her.
"We don't question them, we just don't get why you told us to pass up perfect opportunities!" Tsukaimon said. "First was the cave, one side sealed off and me on the other, and all you wanted was a cave-in? It would have been easy just to fire Nail Bones into the cave, they would have been helpless!" BlackGatomon glanced at Tsukaimon, somewhat surprised the small Digimon stood up to their master so well. Her glare returned to the dragon Digimon, the question half finished.
"Then at the summit..." BlackGatomon continued. "We saw the map at the same time you did, we saw them and the temple just fine! They thought they were safe, they would have been off guard!" Ragnadramon suddenly roared fiercely, making both his minions take a few steps back. When the roar ended Ragnadramon glared down at them, eyes burning brightly.
"The Cataclysm spawned you to follow my orders without question, it is for that reason alone you exist." He said sternly. "If I did not need you for the coming battle, I would crush you for questioning me..." With that the dragon turned back around, his attention returning to whatever he was doing when they arrived. BlackGatomon and Tsukaimon glanced at each other before stepping forward again.
"I'm sorry, my master, but we just wanted to know..." BlackGatomon said, now much more quiet than before. Ragnadramon turned his head just enough to look at them again over his shoulder, then turned back again.
"Come, observe." He said simply. Tsukaimon hesitantly took flight, flying upwards toward Ragnadramon's left shoulder, finding a seat there. BlackGatomon followed, climbing up Ragnadramon's tail and then his back, using the scales for traction. Once both were seated, they looked down into what looked like the summit with the temple, viewed through a break in dimension Ragnadramon could create. However, the image was dark, lacking much of it's color, like they were looking through the dark dimension.
"This way we can observe them without them seeing us." The dragon explained. The view from the hole changed, now looking specifically at Kari, still looking tired. "You see, my minions, we are at war with this girl... and no fool ever won a war by brute force alone. War is won by the smartest side, thus we will defeat her and her companions through strategy. And to answer your question, we took no easy chances because war is always better won when one side begins to fall under it's own mistakes... We will toy with them, break them down, and when they have suffered as much as possible... crush them." The two cloned Digimon wasn't sure what he meant by that, but they were intrigued, now looking on through the hole in reality with renewed interest.
**********
Three hours had passed and the sun was just starting to set in the Digital World, which was a spectacular view from the mountain peek. The band of Digidestined and Digimon were now all at the edge, looking out over the northern region of the Digital World as the setting sun's light almost shined off all of the mountain peeks around them and the lower clouds that were so close to them.
"TK, we can't put it off any longer..." Kari said, taking a second to stand back up. "I feel fine, I'm ready." TK dreaded this now. In such a scenery he had hoped he would have more time to just enjoy it with Kari, but given the situation she was too determined to finish their mission here.
"...alright, Kari." TK said, finally relenting. "Collect Duchoumon's energy, we'll return home then." Kari nodded to TK, turning and starting her walk to the temple. Gatomon glanced toward Patamon, who nodded, signaling her to follow. The feline Digimon stood and followed after Kari, both entering the temple and leaving the males of their group to themselves.
With the girls gone Veemon stood and walked away from Davis, who was caught up in the view of the red mountains below. Veemon turned and looked at Patamon, who was looking backwards now, and indicated for him to follow, again turning and walking off. Patamon looked on, wondering what he wanted before taking to the air to follow after him. Veemon stopped at the opposite edge of the plateau, close to the temple, with Patamon landing just behind him, walking over to stand a few feet to his side.
"You're usually not the one to talk in private, what's up?" The orange Digimon asked curiously. Veemon glanced over at him, an expression as serious as Patamon had ever seen on him. The glance didn't last long as he turned to look out over the edge.
"I know, but this is kind of personal." Veemon admitted, further confusing Patamon. "...what is it like to be in love?" The smaller Digimon was taken back a little by the question, it wasn't like Veemon at all.
"I thought we went over that a while ago." Patamon said. "You said yourself you had a crush on Gatomon." Veemon shook his head at Patamon's misunderstanding.
"Exactly, a crush, nothing more." Veemon explained. "I've seen you two, what you two have I don't think I could have ever had. At least not with Gatomon. Like when we were all at Kari's place making plans and Kari said Gatomon was in danger of dying when she did. I saw your reaction, the look in your eyes... That's emotion I couldn't have had, not at that level." Patamon wasn't sure what to say, or if he could even take in everything Veemon just told him. He didn't realize his friend could have such depth to him.
"Well I don't think you're incapable of it." Patamon said. "You just don't have the chance to find the right girl. Remember most of the time we were going around the Digital World Gatomon was the only female Digimon around and it's not like you have much time to look following Davis around." Veemon agreed that was true at least, thought he still doubted it somewhat.
"Maybe, but there's other limitations." The blue Digimon continued. "Like how only a few Digimon are even capable of love, it's so rare what are the chances I'm one of them?" Now Patamon was the one shaking his head, dispelling that idea from his own mind.
"I don't think that's true at all." He said. "The Digital World is so vast and there's so many Digimon around I think most just don't get the chance to find another Digimon they can have that connection with. After experiencing it for myself, I'm positive nothing is incapable of it." Veemon smiled, reassured by his friend's words.
"Alright, but you still haven't answered me." Veemon said. "What's it like? I mean I know what a crush feels like, but what about real love?" Again Patamon found himself at a loss for words, finding it hard to find ones that described it all.
"Well, it's like..." Patamon said, forced to stop as the words failed to come. "It's like... well, I don't know, it's so hard to describe... I mean when you're with someone you love, you get this feeling in you that makes you happy and makes everything else seem unimportant. It's like you have a connection to someone that's so strong you feel like they're as attached to you as an arm or a leg. But it's so much more, I just... I don't have the words for it all." Veemon was finding this hard to imagine, was it possible to be that connected with someone?
"Let me know if you ever find the right words, I really want to know for myself." Veemon admitted. Patamon nodded at him, then turned to look back out over the area, taking in the scenery. He thought about it more, still unable to come up with any combination of words that described it well enough. Maybe it was something you couldn't describe and had to experience, but he wanted Veemon to know somehow. Maybe he just had to look hard enough...
**********
A half hour of silenced passed, no sign of Kari emerging from the temple and not a word passed between Davis and TK. Neither thought it would take this long and didn't bother starting conversation, but as the time got on and the boredom grew, it was inevitable.
"TK, I don't mean to complain..." Davis started, his curiosity finally getting the better of him. He had been thinking about TK's change of attitude since they began their trip today and couldn't shake this bad feeling he had about it. "...Did something change the other day that I'm not aware of? You've gone this whole time up the mountain without trying to get Kari to stop and find another way to do this, I thought on the last leg of the trip you would be the most determined." TK knew either Davis or Kari would get to this question eventually, he had been thinking about how to respond to it for a while now, since he first joined Kari and Davis today. Before he did it with the security that his pact with Ragnadramon that would keep Kari from dying, but with his attempt failing, he was back to worrying about her fate. Any excuse he had now was a lie, but what else could he say to explain?
"...it's hard to explain." TK said after a moment of silence, stalling. "...Before all of this I was just thinking of myself and how I would feel over this, I wasn't thinking of everyone who was going to be saved from this mission's outcome. Remember this morning when Kari pulled me into her room? She explained why she was doing this, all the people and Digimon this was saving... It kind of brought things into perspective." At least that answer was honest, she did make him realize the magnitude of their quest and it really was a reason to no longer question it.
"I was wondering what that was about..." Davis said, referring to why Kari wanted to talk to TK alone. "It sounds like how she got me to agree to this..." TK looked over at Davis, his curiosity now raised. After how long it took him to accept this fate Kari had agreed to, he never thought about how Davis was convinced. "She sent me an e-mail to explain everything. She explained the whole situation, and then the quest, then why she was doing it... By the time she got around to telling me it would cost her life it wasn't nearly as much of a shock as it probably was for you. In fact the way she explained it, even before she said she would die, I was expecting it." TK listened with interest as Davis explained. It did sound like Kari, the way she would explain such a situation, putting the importance first and herself last. The more he thought about it, the more sides he found until one eventually drew a chuckle out of him, surprising Davis.
"Now you're laughing?" Davis said in mild confusion, looking over at his friend. TK smirked, his chucking ended.
"It just seems kind of odd." TK said. "How many other girls to you think there are that can talk two different guys into risking their lives to help her on a suicide mission?" Davis had a blank look on his face for a second before smiling and chuckling himself.
"No kidding." He said, agreeing. "And since we're both dashing young heroes of this story, I'll have to try extra hard to get the girl before it's over." TK shot Davis a stern glare from the comment, making Davis cower back a little. TK kept the glare for a few seconds before his stern look faded, giving way to a laugh. Davis's look fell the same way, with both now laughing out loud. It was nice finding a way to be jovial during such a hard time that should be filled with despair. Since starting this quest TK didn't think he had a good laugh, it was certainly needed by now.
"Guys! Come quick!" A yell behind them said. The laughter died down as both Davis and TK looked over their shoulders to see Gatomon, who was now over by Patamon and Veemon. It was too far to hear what she was telling them, but once she was done and had turned to them, the two Digimon were already running toward the temple entrance. TK and Davis both stood, watching Gatomon as she came close.
"Guys, something's wrong in the temple, come quick!" Gatomon said. She was obviously in a hurry as she didn't stick around to explain. The two teens glanced at each other, both seeing the worry in the others face, before following after Gatomon, running their fastest to keep up with her feline pace.
**********
TK and Davis were quick to arrive in the inner chamber of the temple. It appeared just like the other ones, a large dome room with moss on some of the walls from the age and many cracks in the stones that made up the room. The stone had a red hue to it, probably from being so close to the phoenix Digimon Duchoumon for so long. In the center stood Kari, in front of the altar that was in the middle of the circular room, her Digivice already placed in the altar to receive the last share of energy.
"Kari, what's wrong?" TK asked with concern. She looked okay from what he could see and there wasn't anything but them in the room. She turned around, a confused and worried expression on her face.
"It's Duchoumon." She responded. "I've been waiting here since I first entered the temple, my D-3 has been sitting there since and nothing... He should have appeared a long time ago." TK looked over at the altar that the D-3 rested on, then up at the ceiling. The stone spire that pointed from the roof toward the altar was fine, everything looked like it was okay. But if nothing was broken, what was the problem?
"Well Duchoumon is supposed to be the strongest guardian..." Patamon said, who was also looking around. "Maybe there's some rules or limitations we don't know about..." Kari looked down at Patamon, a doubtful look in her eyes.
"I'm sure one of the other guardians would have warned us..." She replied. "I just have this really bad feeling something is wrong... Maybe it's too late, what if the Cataclysm's already beginning?" TK stepped up behind Kari, putting both arms around her waist to comfort her.
"You're worrying too much, if that was true they wouldn't have bothered to try to stop us." TK said, trying to reassure her. Kari put both hands on TK's which were at the middle of her waist.
"I hope you're right..." She said. "I just have a bad feeling about it, that's all." TK gave the room another quick glance, again finding nothing that could be damaged. Maybe it was something outside, but at the top of a mountain what could happen to it?
"Well there's one advantage now." Davis said, finished with his own inspection. "We've got the use of the monitor outside, right? We won't have to climb back up, we can just leave, hit another temple to ask a guardian what's wrong, then come back and fix it." The rest of the group turned their eyes to Davis, honestly surprised at the good idea.
"That's an idea." TK said. "You see, Kari? We can find out what went wrong in no time and stop worrying about it." Kari thought about it for a second before smiling.
"Alright, let's go." She said, her fear subsiding. "We can go back to visit Ebonwumon,
he should know whatever the problem is." Kari lifted a hand to the altar, picking up her D-3 and replacing it in her pocket. TK released his embrace as Kari turned around, again lightly smiling. He was glad to see that smile again, so close to the end he was afraid he wouldn't get to see it again. TK turned to see Veemon and Davis were heading out already and Patamon and Gatomon by the exit waiting for them. TK took Kari's hand as the two walked out, their Digimon following close behind.
As they approached the exit, the group saw Davis and Veemon standing outside, their backs to the exit, both looking up. Nobody was sure what the two were doing until they also emerged from the temple, with a full view of what was above them. Floating above was Ragnadramon, glaring down directly at them. His minions Tsukaimon and BlackGatomon rode on his shoulders, both also watching. This had no question to it, they could see them, the temple's cloak was no longer a factor. TK immediately felt a sense of dread as he looked up at the dragon Digimon, who glared back down, a sinister smirk on his reptilian face. The blonde haired teen doubted this encounter would end as peacefully as their previous one.
End Chapter 16
Coming Next: Chapter 17 - Questions
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