Wow…I showed the sketching for this idea to my friend Kaira…She thought it was great…and obviously, so do the rest of you.
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. Never have and never will.
The Healer's Touch
Chapter 2: A Friend In Need
The Digital World was not at its best that week.
A mysterious new enemy was at a rise. But no one knew who or what it was, just that it was somehow controlling a whole army of Digimon, spanning all levels. It was hard just going there for a short trip, let alone trying to find out anything. And the afternoon three days after Kari's puppy was the hardest yet.
The six younger DigiDestined had, of course, gone off and made a mess of things. They were currently cornered by something that looked like a Triceramon, but it was really hard to tell.
See, the thing about these guys was that they really weren't Digimon, you could tell that. They were about twice the size of a usual monster, completely in much darker colors with a cold aura and twice the strength. Not something you'd wanna meet in a dark alley.
"Darn it!" Davis muttered under his breath. "Not a single attack had gotten through!"
"I know, I know!" Yolei cried, racking her brain. "But how the heck are we gonna beat him?!"
"We can't even risk DNA Digivolving now." Ken sighed. "We don't have the strength!"
Cody watched Ankylomon fire another one of his Tail Hammer attacks, thrusting it forward at the monster. He studied the other Digimon a moment, all flailing their best attacks.
"We better get out of here." he whispered quietly.
The others all turned to stare. "W-What did you say, Cody?" Kari gasped.
"We should run." the young boy said, unsteady at first, but then with growing confidence. "It's obvious we can't handle this thing alone. We need to make a break for the Digiport."
"What?!" Davis exclaimed. "No way, we can't just back down from a fight like that!"
"I agree with Cody." T.K. suddenly spoke up. He'd been very quiet that day, more than usual. "It's obvious we don't stand a chance here, so we better run before someone gets hurt."
The others considered a moment, then nodded. Davis turned back to the fray. "ExVeemon!" he called. "We gotta run for it, let's get going!"
"Right!" The blue Digimon grunted. He zoomed down to pick Davis up, but was knocked out of the way. With one quick swipe all six Digimon were back in their Rookie forms, staggering to their feet.
"Come on, let's get outta here!" Yolei called, pointing the way through the trees to the Digiport. Each Digimon split off with their respective partner and ran wildly.
Triceramon narrowed his eyes. "You won't get away that easy!" he growled. "Tri Horn Attack!"
The attack struck right in the center of the group. The kids went flying and hit the ground hard. They lay there a moment, stunned, then Davis sat up, rubbing his head. "Is everyone okay?"
"We're in one piece." Yolei called, and most of the others nodded.
"I'm fine…" Wormmon buzzed. "But Ken…"
"I just…hurt my leg, that's all." the boy grimaced, showing them the wound. It was a deep cut across his ankle, bleeding hard. "But I…must've cut a tendon or something…I can't move my foot!"
"Dang it." Cody muttered under his breath again. He glanced up at the shaking trees. "Triceramon's coming closer!"
"We've gotta get outta here!" Kari gasped.
Davis was ready with a 'brilliant' plan. "T.A., gimme a hand here!" he called, grabbing Ken's arm. "We gotta get Ken back home!"
There was a silence. Nothing ever happened. "T.A., what're you doing?!" Davis insisted, looking up. "I can't do this on my own."
T.K. was looking at the wound, and after a moment a slightly determined look crossed his face. No one really noticed, they were panicking a little too much, but T.K. gently put his left hand over the wound.
A few seconds later, Ken noticed the feeling on his ankle and looked down. "T.K.…What the heck are you doing?" he gasped
The others looked over as T.K. removed his hand. The palm was smeared with red…fresh blood…but the wound was completely and totally gone.
"Huh?!" Davis gasped in surprise.
"Where…Where did the cut go?" Yolei gasped.
"Amazing…" Cody whispered.
Kari had a flash back of a few days before. The puppy…it's wound had disappeared the exact same way! Ken touched his ankle, flexing his foot in amazement. "It's…It's perfect!" he gasped. "T.K., how did you do that?"
"This is not the time…" T.K. muttered, climbing to his feet and pulling Ken up with him. "Right now, Triceramon's still getting closer, and we have to get out of here!"
~ * ~ * ~
The DigiDestined quickly arrived back in the computer room. Ken rolled up his pants leg and examined the place where the wound had been. "Amazing…" he whispered again. "Not even a scar…It's like it never even happened!"
"Are you sure we weren't imagining it?" Yolei asked.
"Couldn't be." Ken insisted. "I felt it, I felt the pain! It was awful, and then all of a sudden, it was gone!"
Then Cody turned around, facing T.K. He was standing unemotionally over by the side, with a strange look in his eyes, wanting to distance himself from the others. He was already packing his things in his bag.
"T.K.…" Cody said seriously. "How did you do that?"
"Do what?" T.K. asked in a low growl.
"You know what!" Davis exclaimed. "That…That thing you did to Ken's leg!"
"It's remarkable." Ken noted. "That was a wound that would've kept me from walking for a couple of months! You managed to get rid of it in seconds!"
"Yeah, come on, T.K.!" Yolei urged. "Spill, what was that?"
"You know what?" T.K. whispered calmly, zipping up his bag to leave. "It's really none of your business. Come on, Patamon."
"Hang on a sec!" Kari exclaimed, trying to catch him, but he and his Digimon were already half way down the hall and not looking back.
Davis looked out past her. "What's wrong with him?"
"I dunno." Yolei shrugged. "He seams awful…touchy…"
"Hey." Kari noticed suddenly. "Is he limping?"
~ * ~ * ~
The plane of the land, if that was what you could call it, was pure white. That's all it was, pure white light, shining, bright white. The only thing that disturbed it was dark gray smog and a lone figure.
Kari recognized him immediately. "T.K.!" she called, waving happily. "Hey, wait up!" He stopped a moment, then turned around. Kari froze, staring at him in horror.
The front of his shirt was stained crimson red blood, obviously coming from a wound under them. His left arm hung limp at his side, bleeding. The left leg…the same leg Ken had hurt that day…was twisted in the wrong direction completely and red, again, covered with blood.
"T.K.…" she whispered. "What's…What's happened to you?"
He didn't say a word, just stood there, staring. Kari took a step forward, reaching her hand out for him. "T.K.…Let me help you…" she urged. "You're hurt…please, let me help."
T.K. shook his head. That's all, just slowly shook his head. He had that look in his eyes again…That sad, distant, hopeless look…then he turned and faded away into the fog.
"T.K.…T.K.!" Kari called, chasing after him. "Wait, T.K.!"
Kari sat up in a bed of cold sweat. She gasped in the darkness a moment, then sighed with relief. "Just…a dream…"
She got up and opened the window. Cool, crisp night air blew into her face, waking her up. She looked up at the stars with a sigh. She just couldn't take her mind off of what happened that day, and the dream worried her more.
"T.K.…" she whispered sleepily. "What's the matter with you? Why won't…you tell us?"
~ * ~ * ~
T.K. currently lay, gasping for breath, under his covers. His breathing was labored, tired and harsh, and his face was flushed red as he burned under a fever.
Patamon flew over, clutching a glass of ice water. "Oh…not another relapse" he whispered, raising it to his friend's lips. "Here T.K., drink this. It'll bring your fever down."
T.K. gulped the water down thankfully. He relaxed only a bit, but his body was still in pain. He could hardly move without a spasm of pain rushing through every inch of him. Patamon took a wet cloth and pressed it against his forehead. "There there, T.K.…" he soothed. "Just make it through the night and you'll be fine. Don't worry, I'm here."
T.K. smiled just a bit, reaching up to stroke Patamon's fur. Then he reached, groaning, just under his bed and pulled out a soft, fluffy pink towel. It was something Kari had left one day, when they'd gone for a day in the digital ocean and reported back to his house for fresh cookies.
"T.K.…" Patamon landed next to him, confused. "Why do you keep that thing every time you have a relapse like this?"
T.K. took a deep breath through the cloth of the towel. "It smells…like her…" he muttered quietly. "It's like…she's right here…"
With a contented sigh, he dropped into a deep, relaxed sleep. Patamon put a paw to his friend's forehead. The fever was almost gone, the relapse had past. But the Digimon was sure this wouldn't be the last one, and things were just going to get worse…