Jaeger Lowemon: Well I hope everyone liked the last chapter, and I'm happy
to note that I've received no flames. I'm not going to reveal anything
about this chapter here because if I revealed the slightest fact it would
give away an entire quarter of the plot's mysteriousness (doesn't really
make a difference to me whether that's a real word or not but here's hoping
it is) DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon or any of it characters, but somehow
that doesn't stop me from wishing that I do.
Just a Reminder:
"___" normal speech
'___' thoughts
___ between ___ the between area is a flashback
{___} fantasy sequence
As they approached the gates of the city, Takuya whispered to Zoe "Just play along, I know this guy and he's a notorious slacker" as a burly, spear wielding guard walked up to them
"Can I see your entry pass please?" he said in a gruff voice, reaching out a bloated hairy hand to Takuya.
Takuya, seeming to know this process, flashed a small slip of bark scroll at the guard, saying "She's with me". At this, the guard scratched his head and said "Go ahead, just don't get into any trouble" he said, walking back to his post and slouching wearily, as if just walking up to them and standing there had drained him of almost all of his energy.
They walked through the busy streets of the city, being bumped and jostled every which way, until Takuya found the shop he was looking for. It was a squat building, with a small, rusting sign hanging which swung a little bit when the breeze blew. Takuya slowly pushed open the door. Inside was a veritable menagerie of wild beasts from the surrounding areas. Large, Small, Long, Short, Bipedal, Quadrupedal, winged and assorted others. The stench was overpowering, so that Izumi had to hold her nose. Takuya walked up to the counter, holding his cloak to his face, most likely to ward off the stink of the shop. As he neared the small counter, a stooped, wrinkly shell of an old man appeared from behind a curtain. Takuya pulled out the two Grizonire fangs and handed them to the ancient husk, saying as he did, "Here they are, just as you asked now give me what you promised me"
'What is this all about' Izumi thought.
The old man disappeared into the back, and returned with a sword almost identical to the one Takuya was carrying, except that it had a ruby pommel stone instead of a sapphire, and a gold crosstree instead of silver and the scabbard depicted a running wolf in silver instead of gold. Takuya handed the man his old sword and he disappeared again, this time reappearing with a large, gleaming metal shield, with the soaring eagle depicted upon it in gold. This appeared to complete their transaction, and they left the shop in silence.
With Takuya's new sword at his side, and his new shield on his arm, they left the city, never once turning back, and were soon out of sight of its high walls.
----------------------
In the far distance, Izumi could see a fork in the road. One, on the left, seemed to lead to a thin strip of yellow. The other, paved with blocks of stone, appeared to lead to another city. She had never been this far from her home before, but she trusted that Takuya would not intentionally lead her into danger.
"Let's follow the path to the right Izumi. We can pick up some supplies for crossing the desert"
She stared at him, apparently puzzled. "What's on the other side of the desert?"
"It's not what, but who is on the other side"
They took the trail that led west and soon arrived at a city, this one without walls. Yet the absence of walls did not make the streets less crowded, the clamor less earsplitting, nor the going easier for the two companions. They came upon a supply store in front of which four horses stood, tethered to a stile by leather halters. They went inside, and Takuya produced a small sack of money. They bought a pair of horses, two saddles, two desert cloaks, 4 canteens, and a tent capable of withstanding the heavy desert night winds, for the desert they were about to cross was notorious in the region for its vicious sandstorms, and strong night gales.
As they left the shop, the untied two of the standing horses, putting on the saddles and walking them out of town. As the left the small town, the road, Izumi noted, led directly into the desert, so they would not have to go back the way they had come.
"Here, wrap this around your eyes" said Takuya, tossing her a thin cloth.
"What's this" she queried.
"It'll keep sand out of your eyes"
"Oh, okay" she said, complying by wrapping the thin cloth around her head and securing it with a well-tied knot.
"All right let's get a move on. The desert isn't that large, and I'd like to get across as soon as possible."
She wondered what, or who, could be so urgent on the other side of the desert that Takuya would hurry her so. After all, he'd asked to accompany -her-, not the other way around. But she dismissed this fact because of reasons even she herself was not sure of yet, and began riding into the desert alongside him.
-------------------
Some time had passed and they were still riding steadily into the desert. He'd been right about the cloth; it had stopped sand from getting into her eyes,
'Very effective' she noted to herself.
'I still haven't done anything about the fact that I like her, but what can I do?' Takuya thought earnestly to himself.
'Every time I try look into his eyes, he turns away, and he won't look into my eyes, as if he's hiding something, a secret'
'I can't bring myself to look her in the eye, because if I do I don't know if I'll be able to hide this from her much longer'
"Maybe we should make camp" he yelled over the noise of the raging wind.
"Where's a good place?!" Izumi yelled in reply
"See that large rock, over on your right? It'll give us some protection from the wind if we set up camp in the lee"
So they veered heavily to the right, heading for the rock, which was more of a boulder, than a rock. When they got there, they dismounted and started to set up the tent. When they had finished, they began piling the supplies into it. It was quite large and would probably fit both of them and their supplies with room to spare.
"Why don't you take the tent and ill sleep out here under a cloak" Izumi said as they dumped the last of the supplies into the back of the small shelter.
"No, you can have the tent, I'm fine outside"
"I guess." she said hesitantly. "Are you sure?"
""Yes, completely"
"All right then. Here take my cloak too then"
'She's so selfless, it seems naïve, but it's endearing' he thought as he left the tent.
He rolled up the Izumi's cloak and laid it down on the sand, at the same time he laid his head down upon it and covered himself with his own cloak.
Later that night Izumi laid in the tent, wondering about Takuya's motives for crossing the desert but these thoughts left her mind as she slowly drifted off into sleep.
As the sun rose upon the warming desert sands, Takuya awoke underneath the cloak he had slept beneath. He was weighted down heavily by some unseen force. It was sand. The heavy night-winds had covered him from head to toe with several inches of heavy, gritty, yellow. stuff. He struggled under this heavy mass effectively shaking off enough to rise to his feet, dusting himself off as he did so. He arose to find Izumi, who had been awake ere dawn, standing next to the newly packed horses.
"Good morning" She said cheerfully, as if it were no problem for her to be up so early.
"Uh, good morning to you too" he replied, although he seemed a little off, as though his mind was not completely aware what he was saying. But they mounted their horses once more and were off
The sandstorm had died down during the night but the wind was still very strong, occasionally blowing up little whirling eddies of sand here and there. On the now clear horizon, Izumi noticed something in the distance. A peak or a spire, Takuya seemed to have noticed it as well.
"That's where we're headed Izumi, toward that tall, grey, monolithic peak in the distance, the peak of the Mountain Ryithorr" he said in an audible voice.
They were approaching the mountain at an insane rate, until she noticed why. The mountain was situated almost a quarter ways into a large indentation in the desert floor. When they arrived at the lip of the. pit, Takuya signaled her to stop. He dismounted and she followed in his example. Staring in seeming awe at the dark grey peak, many hundreds of feet above them above them, he murmured, "So this is Mount Ryithorr. the place to which my dreams have called me."
As they approached the gates of the city, Takuya whispered to Zoe "Just play along, I know this guy and he's a notorious slacker" as a burly, spear wielding guard walked up to them
"Can I see your entry pass please?" he said in a gruff voice, reaching out a bloated hairy hand to Takuya.
Takuya, seeming to know this process, flashed a small slip of bark scroll at the guard, saying "She's with me". At this, the guard scratched his head and said "Go ahead, just don't get into any trouble" he said, walking back to his post and slouching wearily, as if just walking up to them and standing there had drained him of almost all of his energy.
They walked through the busy streets of the city, being bumped and jostled every which way, until Takuya found the shop he was looking for. It was a squat building, with a small, rusting sign hanging which swung a little bit when the breeze blew. Takuya slowly pushed open the door. Inside was a veritable menagerie of wild beasts from the surrounding areas. Large, Small, Long, Short, Bipedal, Quadrupedal, winged and assorted others. The stench was overpowering, so that Izumi had to hold her nose. Takuya walked up to the counter, holding his cloak to his face, most likely to ward off the stink of the shop. As he neared the small counter, a stooped, wrinkly shell of an old man appeared from behind a curtain. Takuya pulled out the two Grizonire fangs and handed them to the ancient husk, saying as he did, "Here they are, just as you asked now give me what you promised me"
'What is this all about' Izumi thought.
The old man disappeared into the back, and returned with a sword almost identical to the one Takuya was carrying, except that it had a ruby pommel stone instead of a sapphire, and a gold crosstree instead of silver and the scabbard depicted a running wolf in silver instead of gold. Takuya handed the man his old sword and he disappeared again, this time reappearing with a large, gleaming metal shield, with the soaring eagle depicted upon it in gold. This appeared to complete their transaction, and they left the shop in silence.
With Takuya's new sword at his side, and his new shield on his arm, they left the city, never once turning back, and were soon out of sight of its high walls.
----------------------
In the far distance, Izumi could see a fork in the road. One, on the left, seemed to lead to a thin strip of yellow. The other, paved with blocks of stone, appeared to lead to another city. She had never been this far from her home before, but she trusted that Takuya would not intentionally lead her into danger.
"Let's follow the path to the right Izumi. We can pick up some supplies for crossing the desert"
She stared at him, apparently puzzled. "What's on the other side of the desert?"
"It's not what, but who is on the other side"
They took the trail that led west and soon arrived at a city, this one without walls. Yet the absence of walls did not make the streets less crowded, the clamor less earsplitting, nor the going easier for the two companions. They came upon a supply store in front of which four horses stood, tethered to a stile by leather halters. They went inside, and Takuya produced a small sack of money. They bought a pair of horses, two saddles, two desert cloaks, 4 canteens, and a tent capable of withstanding the heavy desert night winds, for the desert they were about to cross was notorious in the region for its vicious sandstorms, and strong night gales.
As they left the shop, the untied two of the standing horses, putting on the saddles and walking them out of town. As the left the small town, the road, Izumi noted, led directly into the desert, so they would not have to go back the way they had come.
"Here, wrap this around your eyes" said Takuya, tossing her a thin cloth.
"What's this" she queried.
"It'll keep sand out of your eyes"
"Oh, okay" she said, complying by wrapping the thin cloth around her head and securing it with a well-tied knot.
"All right let's get a move on. The desert isn't that large, and I'd like to get across as soon as possible."
She wondered what, or who, could be so urgent on the other side of the desert that Takuya would hurry her so. After all, he'd asked to accompany -her-, not the other way around. But she dismissed this fact because of reasons even she herself was not sure of yet, and began riding into the desert alongside him.
-------------------
Some time had passed and they were still riding steadily into the desert. He'd been right about the cloth; it had stopped sand from getting into her eyes,
'Very effective' she noted to herself.
'I still haven't done anything about the fact that I like her, but what can I do?' Takuya thought earnestly to himself.
'Every time I try look into his eyes, he turns away, and he won't look into my eyes, as if he's hiding something, a secret'
'I can't bring myself to look her in the eye, because if I do I don't know if I'll be able to hide this from her much longer'
"Maybe we should make camp" he yelled over the noise of the raging wind.
"Where's a good place?!" Izumi yelled in reply
"See that large rock, over on your right? It'll give us some protection from the wind if we set up camp in the lee"
So they veered heavily to the right, heading for the rock, which was more of a boulder, than a rock. When they got there, they dismounted and started to set up the tent. When they had finished, they began piling the supplies into it. It was quite large and would probably fit both of them and their supplies with room to spare.
"Why don't you take the tent and ill sleep out here under a cloak" Izumi said as they dumped the last of the supplies into the back of the small shelter.
"No, you can have the tent, I'm fine outside"
"I guess." she said hesitantly. "Are you sure?"
""Yes, completely"
"All right then. Here take my cloak too then"
'She's so selfless, it seems naïve, but it's endearing' he thought as he left the tent.
He rolled up the Izumi's cloak and laid it down on the sand, at the same time he laid his head down upon it and covered himself with his own cloak.
Later that night Izumi laid in the tent, wondering about Takuya's motives for crossing the desert but these thoughts left her mind as she slowly drifted off into sleep.
As the sun rose upon the warming desert sands, Takuya awoke underneath the cloak he had slept beneath. He was weighted down heavily by some unseen force. It was sand. The heavy night-winds had covered him from head to toe with several inches of heavy, gritty, yellow. stuff. He struggled under this heavy mass effectively shaking off enough to rise to his feet, dusting himself off as he did so. He arose to find Izumi, who had been awake ere dawn, standing next to the newly packed horses.
"Good morning" She said cheerfully, as if it were no problem for her to be up so early.
"Uh, good morning to you too" he replied, although he seemed a little off, as though his mind was not completely aware what he was saying. But they mounted their horses once more and were off
The sandstorm had died down during the night but the wind was still very strong, occasionally blowing up little whirling eddies of sand here and there. On the now clear horizon, Izumi noticed something in the distance. A peak or a spire, Takuya seemed to have noticed it as well.
"That's where we're headed Izumi, toward that tall, grey, monolithic peak in the distance, the peak of the Mountain Ryithorr" he said in an audible voice.
They were approaching the mountain at an insane rate, until she noticed why. The mountain was situated almost a quarter ways into a large indentation in the desert floor. When they arrived at the lip of the. pit, Takuya signaled her to stop. He dismounted and she followed in his example. Staring in seeming awe at the dark grey peak, many hundreds of feet above them above them, he murmured, "So this is Mount Ryithorr. the place to which my dreams have called me."