Author's Note: I do not own Digimon, blah blah blah, but I DO own this
plot, and any similarities to any other fic is purely unintentional, as I
have never read a fic like this. Please enjoy this third installment of A
Different Destiny!!
A Different Destiny, Chapter 3
When Tai arrived back where the others were sitting, he was met with a suspicious silence. Kari was still sitting where she had been when he had left with Deathmon, but this time she was fingering a pink crest. Tai felt uncomfortable about having to lie to her about not being her brother, but he knew that it was for the best. He went and sat beside her, determined to talk to her.
"Hey Kari, what's the matter? You seem to be a bit upset," Tai knew that this probably wasn't the best thing to say, but he also knew that Kari wouldn't blow up at him. She was a calm girl and even when she was angry she expressed it in a calm manner.
"Why didn't you tell me that you weren't my brother? I would have understood, but instead you have to go and tell everyone like that... why didn't you just tell me?" she was still fingering her crest and her questions only made Tai feel even more guilty, if that was possible. She hadn't looked at him since he had told them that he was not her brother. At this point Tai noticed the silence around him and he realised that all of the others were listening to their conversation too.
"I didn't tell you because...because of something that you'll find out about eventually. And besides, your parents told me not to tell you because they thought that it wouldn't be a good thing, so I didn't tell you. It wasn't my choice that all of this happened, I'd prefer to be your brother than to....never mind. I'm going to go and find some food for us all," Tai stood up abruptly and left, noticing the guilty faces of all of the other children as he walked past and they realised that he knew that they had been listening. Agumon joined him in their search for the food bushes that they knew were in the forest somewhere.
"Tai don't go feeling guilty about not being Kari's brother! It's not your fault that all of this happened; it's only the fault of the murderer. You never told me who it was, so I don't know who to blame it on yet, but all of this is their fault, not yours," they walked on in silence for a while, Tai lost in his own thoughts and Agumon unsure of what to say, "Tai do you know where we're going? We seem to be a long way away from camp." Tai was silent for a moment before he replied.
"There's a fruit tree along here that always bears fruit. My parents and I used to come to the tree to get some fruit, and we'd share it with my friends. My dad would always put me on his shoulders and I'd pick the fruit from the tree, with my mother warning us to be careful," Tai's eyes filled with tears as he remembered the family outings that he used to have gone on to this particular tree, "It's always covered in fruit, so there'll be enough for everybody." Agumon just nodded, worried about his partner. They continued to hike through the forest to the fruit tree in silence, each having a different worry on their mind.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Meanwhile, back at the camp, the seven other Chosen children were trying to figure out what the marks on their crests meant. All of the children that is, except for Kari and Sora. The two of them were sitting where Tai had left Kari, both of them a bit upset about the fact that they had been lied to for years. But they didn't blame Tai, not really.
"I suppose it wasn't his fault that he didn't tell you Kari. He probably was afraid that you'd hate him for being in your family when he wasn't a part of it, or that you wouldn't understand. Your parents probably thought that the two of you would be closer if you didn't know that he was adopted. And another reason could just be that he wanted to forget about what happened. You can't really blame him Kari," Sora was also trying to convince herself when she said this and she found that it was actually working. Kari looked up and nodded slowly in agreement.
"I know you're right Sora, it's just that it was a big surprise. I mean, I've known him all of my life and he's always been my brother, but now I find out that he isn't. He's probably feeling guilty now that he didn't tell me," Kari continued to play with her crest, but she didn't understand the markings on it at all. Sora had placed her own crest around her neck, and Kari could see it swinging.
"It'll turn out all right in the end Kari, don't worry. Now we've just got to find out what these symbols mean that are on these crests. Do you have any idea what your crest means Kari?" the younger girl shook her head as she replied.
"No, I have no idea; I've never seen this symbol before. What about you Sora? Have you got any ideas about your crest?" Sora sighed and also shook her head wondering how Tai had managed to decipher his symbol. She remembered that he had just looked at it before he had mumbled the word 'Courage' so that must be what his crest stood for. Silence settled over the camp until Tai arrived back, carrying an arm load full of fruit.
"Here's some food, if anybody's hungry. It may look weird, but it's edible," he carefully placed the fruit down in the middle of the clearing and the other children stared at it. There were strange purple fruits that looked like oranges, but were the wrong colour. There was a blue star- shaped fruit as well, but all of the other fruit looked normal. The children were skeptical until their digimon raced to the fruit and started to eat some. Then the children just gave into their hunger and ate some of the fruits that looked more natural.
"Where'd you find all of this?" Gomamon asked, using one of his flippers to point to the fruit, "I live in the digital world and I still don't know where to find fruit in this forest." Tai just shrugged before he replied.
"There's a tree not too far from here that always has plenty of fruit growing on it. I found it when I was here before," he stood up and went to check on the fire that Agumon had started, mainly trying to get away from the others so that they wouldn't ask questions.
"Hey, have any of you figured out what your crest means?" Matt's cool voice asked. Tai turned to see that everyone had finished eating and that they were starting to come and sit around the fire. Everyone answered no, except for Tai of course.
"How on Earth do you know what yours means? All that is on mine is a funny drawing that looks like a tear drop!" Mimi exclaimed showing Tai her green crest, "I have no idea what a tear drop could mean!" Tai glanced at it and translated it in his head.
"That symbol means 'Sincerity' Mimi. Your crest is of sincerity," Mimi picked her crest up and stared at it closely, as if she was trying to remember every detail.
"What about mine Tai?" T.K held up his golden crest and Tai bent to look at the engraved drawing.
"That is the crest of hope. Does anybody else need their crest translating?" Tai asked as he straightened up. Matt, Kari, Sora, Izzy and Joe nodded. "Well, this crest Matt is the crest of friendship. Sora, this represents love. Joe, this is really fitting, this means reliability, Izzy, you have the crest of knowledge and Kari, you have the crest of light." Tai told them as he moved around to see the crests.
"What does yours mean Tai?" Joe asked, pushing his glasses back up his nose as he looked down at his own crest, "and how do you know how to read these things?" Tai sat down on a log that had been pushed near the fire. He picked up a stick and poked the fire, trying to figure out what to say.
"He has the crest of courage. I heard him mutter that before he went and talked to Deathmon," Sora answered for him, giving him more time to compose an answer for Joe's second question. Tai couldn't have been more grateful to her. He decided that they should know the truth, or at least part of it. He wouldn't tell them everything otherwise he'd be putting them all in danger.
"I know how to read these symbols because I livid here in the digital world until I was fi-four. I was taught how to understand these symbols because sometimes it was imperative that things were written in a language that people from other worlds didn't know, so I was taught how to read, write and speak in that language, so that I could understand certain things. That's how I could read the crests," everyone was silent for a moment until it sunk in. Tai was glad for the silence; it gave him more time to think about his answers.
"Why did Deathmon ask you why you chose to stay in this clearing? He said that you hated it, so why did you suggest we stay here?" this question had obviously been bothering Palmon for a long time and she looked relieved that she had actually asked it. Tai sighed. He had known that this question would come up sooner or later, but he wished that it hadn't.
"My parents were killed in this forest, in this clearing to tell the truth. And Palmon, before you say anything, my parent were not the King and Queen. My parents were murdered here and then taken somewhere else...I suppose that was what Deathmon was talking about," Tai hated having to lie again, but this time it was absolutely necessary. He could not have Gennai knowing that the Prince of the Digital World was right there in the forest. He couldn't reveal his identity to anyone. Not even the people he trusted.
"But there were no murders around here! Nobody except the King and Queen died suspiciously for 20 years! All of the people that died did so from illness or accidents," Gabumon objected, sounding a lot like a lawyer, "and every single accident was witnessed by at least five others! What you are saying cannot be true." Tai was silent for a minute as he tried to counter what Gabumon had said, but he only came up with a mental blank.
"Things aren't always as they seem, people lie to cover up the truth. Sometimes you just have to trust your instincts to find the truth, but it's hard to do that when even the truth seems to be a lie," he finally said, which confused everybody completely. Before anyone could say anything though, Tai spoke again, "It's really late and we have to see that guy tomorrow, so we'd better go to sleep. I'll take first watch to make sure that nobody attacks us. I'll wake somebody up once it's their turn." He walked away quickly, knowing that they wanted more answers instead of the confusing replies that he was giving them, but he didn't want them to know any more. He could hear a few of them grumbling to themselves, but he knew that they had listened to his argument, for they all seemed to be lying down to sleep. Tai walked to the edge of the camp where he found the tree that he had been standing behind those eight years before. He chose to sit leaning against this tree because it gave him a good view of the camp and because he felt sage there, knowing that the tree had protected him from certain death before. He wasn't surprised when he saw Sora get up and walk towards him, with Biyomon by her side. She came and sat next to him, leaning against another tall tree, which was taller than the one Tai sat against.
"What did you mean by that confusing riddle?" she asked after sitting in silence for five minutes, "About finding the truth and lies?" Tai didn't reply for a while as he tried to get his thoughts together.
"I just meant that everybody lies to cover up the truth. Only some people have a good reason to, others don't. Even people that you trust can lie to you, and sometimes that then destroys the trust that has been built up over time. Sometimes you don't ever get to know the truth and sometimes you do. But if you want to get the truth, then you have to trust in yourself and what you believe in and you have to trust your instincts. That is one of the most important lessons that I have learned in my life and that is what you are going to have to do. Tomorrow is going to be a big day, full of lies and truths that are hidden below the surface," Tai explained, knowing that Sora would understand. She still looked confused after his explanation though and he knew that it was because she was tired.
"I-I don't think that I understand," she muttered, staring at her hands, "Lies and truths that are hidden? Trust that is broken and built? I really don't understand." Tai smiled as she seemed to be drifting off to sleep. He knew that she would get too cold if she slept where they were, so he poked her in the arm.
"Look, you're really tired. Why don't you go sleep where the others are? I'll wake up the next watch person in a couple of hours. Okay?" Sora nodded tiredly and she and Biyomon went back to the others and went to sleep near the fire, "Please remember what I said Sora. The truth will only come out if you trust your instincts."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Hey, did any of you get woken up for doing the sentry last night?" Sora asked after Tai had disappeared off to find them more food for breakfast before they set out to go to the castle, "Because I didn't and I think that Tai watched for evil digimon the whole night because he seemed to be up too early." The others shook their heads.
"I assumed that I would be woken up by someone when it was my turn, but I didn't get woken up," Izzy told them as they all gathered in a group around the center of the clearing, "but I was having strange dreams about truth and lies and instincts... all over what Tai told us yesterday."
"Yeah, my dreams were pretty strange too Izzy. The truth kept on staring at me in the eye, but I couldn't tell it what the truth was," T.K mumbled, still looking sleepy, "But it doesn't matter because it was only a dream and they aren't real."
"Yeah, nothing is real in dreams; it is just your imagination. I was thinking about the riddle before I fell asleep, so my dreams were filled with things about truth and lies too. It's just all too confusing," Joe again pushed his glasses up his nose as they had come precariously close to falling off completely.
"Did everyone have these weird dreams then?" Sora asked, in that sentence betraying the fact that she, too, had had strange dreams.
"Yeah, I did."
"Me too," Kari told them, looking wide awake, "But I don't know what it means."
"What don't you know what it means?" Tai appeared through the trees, his arms again full of the fruits, as digimon tended to eat a lot.
"Nothing, it was just a dream, that's all," Kari replied, picking one of the blue fruits up from the pile and peeling it absently, "It was a confusing dream, but it wasn't very scary."
"Oh, okay then."
"Tai, did you stay up all night keeping watch over the camp?" Sora asked, noticing that he looked a bit tired, "Because nobody else was woken up for duty, so you must have kept watch all night."
"Um... yeah. I kept watch for most of the night, but I did get some sleep. Agumon stayed up while I slept and I stayed up while he slept. I wasn't very tired, so I was fine. You guys were all extremely tired though, so I decided to let you sleep," Tai wasn't eating anything because he didn't feel very well, but nobody noticed except Agumon, who gave him a worried look, but didn't say anything.
"Well, tonight we won't need a guard as we'll probably be staying with Gennai. He's really nice and he's not stopped searching for the royal children since they disappeared. He has punished every digimon that is against the royal family, but he hasn't hurt them. He is too kind to some of them, especially to Renamon who was supposed to be guarding the children. I still think that she got off too lightly," Tai couldn't hold in anger in at Palmon's words, but he managed to reply calmly.
"It wasn't Renamon's fault that the Prince escaped from under her care that day. There were lots of kids running around and she had to look after the Princess as well, who was sick at the time and so she was crying. How could Renamon have managed to keep the Prince from leaving when she was trying to look after all of them at once?" Palmon just raised her eyebrows at Tai and gave him a cool look.
"It is her duty to look after them, and she failed at it. I still believe that she was a part of the plot against the King and Queen, as since she was supposed to be looking after the Princess too, she managed to lose her. What a coincidence!" Tai just took a deep breath to try and calm himself down before he spoke.
"I don't care if you think that Renamon is a part of the team that is destroying the Royal Family, but I know that she isn't. But you can believe what you want and I'll believe the truth," Tai's voice was shaking with anger, although he was trying to stop it. He walked away from the group and went back to sit against his tree, with Agumon trailing behind. Palmon and the others were staring after him, wondering why he had been so angry with what Palmon was saying.
"What's eating him?" Matt muttered quietly, so that his voice wouldn't carry, "I mean he's all bad tempered all of a sudden."
"Maybe being in this clearing is finally getting to him. Or maybe it's just this snow that must have turned up whilst we were sleeping," Mimi suggested. They had woken up that morning all covered in a thin layer of snow, and now they were pretty cold. They would have frozen if it wasn't for the fire. Tai seemed to be immune to the cold though, as he sat away from the fire without even seeming to shiver.
"Come on guys, the sooner we leave the sooner we can get to the castle, where it's warm. I know that Gennai'll have the castle warm for when we get there. We'd better leave," Gatomon told them, noticing that Kari was shivering, "After all, we can't search for the Prince and Princess if we're all sick." The group got up on their feet and began walking towards Tai, who was still sitting against the tree.
"Come on Tai, we're leaving now," T.K told him as they neared him, "We're going to go to the nice, warm castle!" He sounded very excited about this and soon both he and Kari were telling each other what they imagined it to be like. Tai stood up in acknowledgement of what T.K had said and they started off towards the exit of the forest. Tai didn't say a word as they climbed up the small hill that lead them to the castle, and he had dropped to the back of the group along with Agumon. He didn't feel the cold at all, in fact he felt extremely hot and he knew that he was coming down with a cold or something. He didn't say anything though and they continued on their way.
They spotted the castle only five minutes after they exited the forest. It was built of large stone slabs that were dark grey in colour. There were green vines climbing all the way up to the dark blue roof, but they were neatly trimmed. There were many towers to the castle as well as a lot of windows. There were a few digimon going about daily business in the castle grounds, doing jobs such as trimming the vines or mowing the huge garden. T.K and Kari were wide-eyed as they approached the building, trying to look everywhere at once so that they didn't miss anything. Matt and the other older kids except for Tai laughed at the sight two of them watching their surroundings.
"This is so cool!" T.K exclaimed as he watched a digimon trim an extremely long and thick vine, "I've never been to a castle before. This is so cool!" They reached the entrance where two Terriermon were standing guard.
"We're here to see Gennai. We've found the children who are supposed to help us search for the royal children!" Palmon reported to the first guard and he nodded before rapping on the front door. It swung open silently and on the other side of the door stood a man whom Tai recognised. It was Gennai. He looked to be a bit older, as he had been only 20 when he had murdered Tai's parents, but Tai still recognised him. He was wearing a long brown coat that almost touched the ground and he had short hair. His eyes were gray and he was studying the group of children carefully. Tai felt his heart rate increase as Gennai opened his mouth to speak.
"Welcome young digidestined, to the castle of the Royal Family of the Digital World. Please follow me," as they began to follow Gennai further into the castle Tai\s feeling of dread increased. He didn't know what was going to happen, but he did know that it would be disastrous...
End of Chapter 3
Well, there we have another chapter of this fic. I'm actually writing instead of doing my holiday homework, but I still have another week and a half to get it one. Anyway, I hope you're enjoying this fic as much as I am enjoying writing it. This chapter is the shortest so far, but I'm probably going to start the next chapter after dinner. Please review so then I know what you are thinking about this fic, because I really love reviews and it makes me determined to continue as soon as possible. I want to thank all of my reviewers very much, I love you guys! You're all so nice to me and I want to thank you for that. So please review and I'll write another chapter for tomorrow, maybe I'll even finish it tonight! See you later!
A Different Destiny, Chapter 3
When Tai arrived back where the others were sitting, he was met with a suspicious silence. Kari was still sitting where she had been when he had left with Deathmon, but this time she was fingering a pink crest. Tai felt uncomfortable about having to lie to her about not being her brother, but he knew that it was for the best. He went and sat beside her, determined to talk to her.
"Hey Kari, what's the matter? You seem to be a bit upset," Tai knew that this probably wasn't the best thing to say, but he also knew that Kari wouldn't blow up at him. She was a calm girl and even when she was angry she expressed it in a calm manner.
"Why didn't you tell me that you weren't my brother? I would have understood, but instead you have to go and tell everyone like that... why didn't you just tell me?" she was still fingering her crest and her questions only made Tai feel even more guilty, if that was possible. She hadn't looked at him since he had told them that he was not her brother. At this point Tai noticed the silence around him and he realised that all of the others were listening to their conversation too.
"I didn't tell you because...because of something that you'll find out about eventually. And besides, your parents told me not to tell you because they thought that it wouldn't be a good thing, so I didn't tell you. It wasn't my choice that all of this happened, I'd prefer to be your brother than to....never mind. I'm going to go and find some food for us all," Tai stood up abruptly and left, noticing the guilty faces of all of the other children as he walked past and they realised that he knew that they had been listening. Agumon joined him in their search for the food bushes that they knew were in the forest somewhere.
"Tai don't go feeling guilty about not being Kari's brother! It's not your fault that all of this happened; it's only the fault of the murderer. You never told me who it was, so I don't know who to blame it on yet, but all of this is their fault, not yours," they walked on in silence for a while, Tai lost in his own thoughts and Agumon unsure of what to say, "Tai do you know where we're going? We seem to be a long way away from camp." Tai was silent for a moment before he replied.
"There's a fruit tree along here that always bears fruit. My parents and I used to come to the tree to get some fruit, and we'd share it with my friends. My dad would always put me on his shoulders and I'd pick the fruit from the tree, with my mother warning us to be careful," Tai's eyes filled with tears as he remembered the family outings that he used to have gone on to this particular tree, "It's always covered in fruit, so there'll be enough for everybody." Agumon just nodded, worried about his partner. They continued to hike through the forest to the fruit tree in silence, each having a different worry on their mind.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Meanwhile, back at the camp, the seven other Chosen children were trying to figure out what the marks on their crests meant. All of the children that is, except for Kari and Sora. The two of them were sitting where Tai had left Kari, both of them a bit upset about the fact that they had been lied to for years. But they didn't blame Tai, not really.
"I suppose it wasn't his fault that he didn't tell you Kari. He probably was afraid that you'd hate him for being in your family when he wasn't a part of it, or that you wouldn't understand. Your parents probably thought that the two of you would be closer if you didn't know that he was adopted. And another reason could just be that he wanted to forget about what happened. You can't really blame him Kari," Sora was also trying to convince herself when she said this and she found that it was actually working. Kari looked up and nodded slowly in agreement.
"I know you're right Sora, it's just that it was a big surprise. I mean, I've known him all of my life and he's always been my brother, but now I find out that he isn't. He's probably feeling guilty now that he didn't tell me," Kari continued to play with her crest, but she didn't understand the markings on it at all. Sora had placed her own crest around her neck, and Kari could see it swinging.
"It'll turn out all right in the end Kari, don't worry. Now we've just got to find out what these symbols mean that are on these crests. Do you have any idea what your crest means Kari?" the younger girl shook her head as she replied.
"No, I have no idea; I've never seen this symbol before. What about you Sora? Have you got any ideas about your crest?" Sora sighed and also shook her head wondering how Tai had managed to decipher his symbol. She remembered that he had just looked at it before he had mumbled the word 'Courage' so that must be what his crest stood for. Silence settled over the camp until Tai arrived back, carrying an arm load full of fruit.
"Here's some food, if anybody's hungry. It may look weird, but it's edible," he carefully placed the fruit down in the middle of the clearing and the other children stared at it. There were strange purple fruits that looked like oranges, but were the wrong colour. There was a blue star- shaped fruit as well, but all of the other fruit looked normal. The children were skeptical until their digimon raced to the fruit and started to eat some. Then the children just gave into their hunger and ate some of the fruits that looked more natural.
"Where'd you find all of this?" Gomamon asked, using one of his flippers to point to the fruit, "I live in the digital world and I still don't know where to find fruit in this forest." Tai just shrugged before he replied.
"There's a tree not too far from here that always has plenty of fruit growing on it. I found it when I was here before," he stood up and went to check on the fire that Agumon had started, mainly trying to get away from the others so that they wouldn't ask questions.
"Hey, have any of you figured out what your crest means?" Matt's cool voice asked. Tai turned to see that everyone had finished eating and that they were starting to come and sit around the fire. Everyone answered no, except for Tai of course.
"How on Earth do you know what yours means? All that is on mine is a funny drawing that looks like a tear drop!" Mimi exclaimed showing Tai her green crest, "I have no idea what a tear drop could mean!" Tai glanced at it and translated it in his head.
"That symbol means 'Sincerity' Mimi. Your crest is of sincerity," Mimi picked her crest up and stared at it closely, as if she was trying to remember every detail.
"What about mine Tai?" T.K held up his golden crest and Tai bent to look at the engraved drawing.
"That is the crest of hope. Does anybody else need their crest translating?" Tai asked as he straightened up. Matt, Kari, Sora, Izzy and Joe nodded. "Well, this crest Matt is the crest of friendship. Sora, this represents love. Joe, this is really fitting, this means reliability, Izzy, you have the crest of knowledge and Kari, you have the crest of light." Tai told them as he moved around to see the crests.
"What does yours mean Tai?" Joe asked, pushing his glasses back up his nose as he looked down at his own crest, "and how do you know how to read these things?" Tai sat down on a log that had been pushed near the fire. He picked up a stick and poked the fire, trying to figure out what to say.
"He has the crest of courage. I heard him mutter that before he went and talked to Deathmon," Sora answered for him, giving him more time to compose an answer for Joe's second question. Tai couldn't have been more grateful to her. He decided that they should know the truth, or at least part of it. He wouldn't tell them everything otherwise he'd be putting them all in danger.
"I know how to read these symbols because I livid here in the digital world until I was fi-four. I was taught how to understand these symbols because sometimes it was imperative that things were written in a language that people from other worlds didn't know, so I was taught how to read, write and speak in that language, so that I could understand certain things. That's how I could read the crests," everyone was silent for a moment until it sunk in. Tai was glad for the silence; it gave him more time to think about his answers.
"Why did Deathmon ask you why you chose to stay in this clearing? He said that you hated it, so why did you suggest we stay here?" this question had obviously been bothering Palmon for a long time and she looked relieved that she had actually asked it. Tai sighed. He had known that this question would come up sooner or later, but he wished that it hadn't.
"My parents were killed in this forest, in this clearing to tell the truth. And Palmon, before you say anything, my parent were not the King and Queen. My parents were murdered here and then taken somewhere else...I suppose that was what Deathmon was talking about," Tai hated having to lie again, but this time it was absolutely necessary. He could not have Gennai knowing that the Prince of the Digital World was right there in the forest. He couldn't reveal his identity to anyone. Not even the people he trusted.
"But there were no murders around here! Nobody except the King and Queen died suspiciously for 20 years! All of the people that died did so from illness or accidents," Gabumon objected, sounding a lot like a lawyer, "and every single accident was witnessed by at least five others! What you are saying cannot be true." Tai was silent for a minute as he tried to counter what Gabumon had said, but he only came up with a mental blank.
"Things aren't always as they seem, people lie to cover up the truth. Sometimes you just have to trust your instincts to find the truth, but it's hard to do that when even the truth seems to be a lie," he finally said, which confused everybody completely. Before anyone could say anything though, Tai spoke again, "It's really late and we have to see that guy tomorrow, so we'd better go to sleep. I'll take first watch to make sure that nobody attacks us. I'll wake somebody up once it's their turn." He walked away quickly, knowing that they wanted more answers instead of the confusing replies that he was giving them, but he didn't want them to know any more. He could hear a few of them grumbling to themselves, but he knew that they had listened to his argument, for they all seemed to be lying down to sleep. Tai walked to the edge of the camp where he found the tree that he had been standing behind those eight years before. He chose to sit leaning against this tree because it gave him a good view of the camp and because he felt sage there, knowing that the tree had protected him from certain death before. He wasn't surprised when he saw Sora get up and walk towards him, with Biyomon by her side. She came and sat next to him, leaning against another tall tree, which was taller than the one Tai sat against.
"What did you mean by that confusing riddle?" she asked after sitting in silence for five minutes, "About finding the truth and lies?" Tai didn't reply for a while as he tried to get his thoughts together.
"I just meant that everybody lies to cover up the truth. Only some people have a good reason to, others don't. Even people that you trust can lie to you, and sometimes that then destroys the trust that has been built up over time. Sometimes you don't ever get to know the truth and sometimes you do. But if you want to get the truth, then you have to trust in yourself and what you believe in and you have to trust your instincts. That is one of the most important lessons that I have learned in my life and that is what you are going to have to do. Tomorrow is going to be a big day, full of lies and truths that are hidden below the surface," Tai explained, knowing that Sora would understand. She still looked confused after his explanation though and he knew that it was because she was tired.
"I-I don't think that I understand," she muttered, staring at her hands, "Lies and truths that are hidden? Trust that is broken and built? I really don't understand." Tai smiled as she seemed to be drifting off to sleep. He knew that she would get too cold if she slept where they were, so he poked her in the arm.
"Look, you're really tired. Why don't you go sleep where the others are? I'll wake up the next watch person in a couple of hours. Okay?" Sora nodded tiredly and she and Biyomon went back to the others and went to sleep near the fire, "Please remember what I said Sora. The truth will only come out if you trust your instincts."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Hey, did any of you get woken up for doing the sentry last night?" Sora asked after Tai had disappeared off to find them more food for breakfast before they set out to go to the castle, "Because I didn't and I think that Tai watched for evil digimon the whole night because he seemed to be up too early." The others shook their heads.
"I assumed that I would be woken up by someone when it was my turn, but I didn't get woken up," Izzy told them as they all gathered in a group around the center of the clearing, "but I was having strange dreams about truth and lies and instincts... all over what Tai told us yesterday."
"Yeah, my dreams were pretty strange too Izzy. The truth kept on staring at me in the eye, but I couldn't tell it what the truth was," T.K mumbled, still looking sleepy, "But it doesn't matter because it was only a dream and they aren't real."
"Yeah, nothing is real in dreams; it is just your imagination. I was thinking about the riddle before I fell asleep, so my dreams were filled with things about truth and lies too. It's just all too confusing," Joe again pushed his glasses up his nose as they had come precariously close to falling off completely.
"Did everyone have these weird dreams then?" Sora asked, in that sentence betraying the fact that she, too, had had strange dreams.
"Yeah, I did."
"Me too," Kari told them, looking wide awake, "But I don't know what it means."
"What don't you know what it means?" Tai appeared through the trees, his arms again full of the fruits, as digimon tended to eat a lot.
"Nothing, it was just a dream, that's all," Kari replied, picking one of the blue fruits up from the pile and peeling it absently, "It was a confusing dream, but it wasn't very scary."
"Oh, okay then."
"Tai, did you stay up all night keeping watch over the camp?" Sora asked, noticing that he looked a bit tired, "Because nobody else was woken up for duty, so you must have kept watch all night."
"Um... yeah. I kept watch for most of the night, but I did get some sleep. Agumon stayed up while I slept and I stayed up while he slept. I wasn't very tired, so I was fine. You guys were all extremely tired though, so I decided to let you sleep," Tai wasn't eating anything because he didn't feel very well, but nobody noticed except Agumon, who gave him a worried look, but didn't say anything.
"Well, tonight we won't need a guard as we'll probably be staying with Gennai. He's really nice and he's not stopped searching for the royal children since they disappeared. He has punished every digimon that is against the royal family, but he hasn't hurt them. He is too kind to some of them, especially to Renamon who was supposed to be guarding the children. I still think that she got off too lightly," Tai couldn't hold in anger in at Palmon's words, but he managed to reply calmly.
"It wasn't Renamon's fault that the Prince escaped from under her care that day. There were lots of kids running around and she had to look after the Princess as well, who was sick at the time and so she was crying. How could Renamon have managed to keep the Prince from leaving when she was trying to look after all of them at once?" Palmon just raised her eyebrows at Tai and gave him a cool look.
"It is her duty to look after them, and she failed at it. I still believe that she was a part of the plot against the King and Queen, as since she was supposed to be looking after the Princess too, she managed to lose her. What a coincidence!" Tai just took a deep breath to try and calm himself down before he spoke.
"I don't care if you think that Renamon is a part of the team that is destroying the Royal Family, but I know that she isn't. But you can believe what you want and I'll believe the truth," Tai's voice was shaking with anger, although he was trying to stop it. He walked away from the group and went back to sit against his tree, with Agumon trailing behind. Palmon and the others were staring after him, wondering why he had been so angry with what Palmon was saying.
"What's eating him?" Matt muttered quietly, so that his voice wouldn't carry, "I mean he's all bad tempered all of a sudden."
"Maybe being in this clearing is finally getting to him. Or maybe it's just this snow that must have turned up whilst we were sleeping," Mimi suggested. They had woken up that morning all covered in a thin layer of snow, and now they were pretty cold. They would have frozen if it wasn't for the fire. Tai seemed to be immune to the cold though, as he sat away from the fire without even seeming to shiver.
"Come on guys, the sooner we leave the sooner we can get to the castle, where it's warm. I know that Gennai'll have the castle warm for when we get there. We'd better leave," Gatomon told them, noticing that Kari was shivering, "After all, we can't search for the Prince and Princess if we're all sick." The group got up on their feet and began walking towards Tai, who was still sitting against the tree.
"Come on Tai, we're leaving now," T.K told him as they neared him, "We're going to go to the nice, warm castle!" He sounded very excited about this and soon both he and Kari were telling each other what they imagined it to be like. Tai stood up in acknowledgement of what T.K had said and they started off towards the exit of the forest. Tai didn't say a word as they climbed up the small hill that lead them to the castle, and he had dropped to the back of the group along with Agumon. He didn't feel the cold at all, in fact he felt extremely hot and he knew that he was coming down with a cold or something. He didn't say anything though and they continued on their way.
They spotted the castle only five minutes after they exited the forest. It was built of large stone slabs that were dark grey in colour. There were green vines climbing all the way up to the dark blue roof, but they were neatly trimmed. There were many towers to the castle as well as a lot of windows. There were a few digimon going about daily business in the castle grounds, doing jobs such as trimming the vines or mowing the huge garden. T.K and Kari were wide-eyed as they approached the building, trying to look everywhere at once so that they didn't miss anything. Matt and the other older kids except for Tai laughed at the sight two of them watching their surroundings.
"This is so cool!" T.K exclaimed as he watched a digimon trim an extremely long and thick vine, "I've never been to a castle before. This is so cool!" They reached the entrance where two Terriermon were standing guard.
"We're here to see Gennai. We've found the children who are supposed to help us search for the royal children!" Palmon reported to the first guard and he nodded before rapping on the front door. It swung open silently and on the other side of the door stood a man whom Tai recognised. It was Gennai. He looked to be a bit older, as he had been only 20 when he had murdered Tai's parents, but Tai still recognised him. He was wearing a long brown coat that almost touched the ground and he had short hair. His eyes were gray and he was studying the group of children carefully. Tai felt his heart rate increase as Gennai opened his mouth to speak.
"Welcome young digidestined, to the castle of the Royal Family of the Digital World. Please follow me," as they began to follow Gennai further into the castle Tai\s feeling of dread increased. He didn't know what was going to happen, but he did know that it would be disastrous...
End of Chapter 3
Well, there we have another chapter of this fic. I'm actually writing instead of doing my holiday homework, but I still have another week and a half to get it one. Anyway, I hope you're enjoying this fic as much as I am enjoying writing it. This chapter is the shortest so far, but I'm probably going to start the next chapter after dinner. Please review so then I know what you are thinking about this fic, because I really love reviews and it makes me determined to continue as soon as possible. I want to thank all of my reviewers very much, I love you guys! You're all so nice to me and I want to thank you for that. So please review and I'll write another chapter for tomorrow, maybe I'll even finish it tonight! See you later!