A/N: Hey, Hey! ^^ It's great that I have so many supportive people
reviewing! THANK YOU ALL SOO MUCH! ^_^ You guys make me sooo happy! ^^
Anyways, I hope you enjoy this next chapter...I hope this will satisfy
those hungry for Adventure/Action and Romance! ^_^ *hint, hint*! Wow! It
takes so long for me to finish typing up these chapters nowadays...so
distracted and so preoccupied with my time...^^;;; ENJOY! R&R!
Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon, Digimon Characters or any other related subjects that are directly copyrighted towards Toei Animation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Pure of Heart: Netherworld Journey {I}
For Wajiha...GIGI...Gia...WAJ!...."Hmm...I smell good!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Midnight Brawl and Distant Murmurs -Chapter 8- [Part 1]
The strange stillness of the air was yet another factor that had been added to her already rising fear. This odd new setting was nothing short of creepy. The haunting mist still hung in the surrounding atmosphere like ghostly shrouds drifting soundlessly around the tropical terrain. Exotic trees, knee-high grass and shrubs grew all around and many things were laden with dangling vines and embellished with enormous leaves. And every now and then there came tiny, gleaming pinpricks of light floating inside and out of the engulfing amount of fog that mingled ominously around her. These unfamiliar lights kept turning on and then abruptly off.
Could there be actual creatures on this island? Could these flicking lights be fireflies?
A weak smile broke across her dreading expression. Though just as the thought of having company by her side seemed comforting, a sudden reminiscent memory caught her off guard. This memory left her feeling frightful. Her bones began to feel as if they had been trembling from an icy chill, gripping vice-like to her body. Her muscles seized up in fear. The memory kept gnawing at the back of her mind as she tried to forcefully push it away. It still remained. Then suddenly the memory and its heeding words came striking like a furious gale at her nerves.
'Unearthly spirits never stray too far from the drifting fireflies amidst the dead of the night.'
She quickly hugged her knees closer to herself as she stared wildly around. And there still had not been any rousing stir nor an audible sound in the near distance.
"Hurry, Takuya." Izumi whispered to herself.
Her left hand gripped tightly to her gashed leg, it bled less but had no effect in soothing the pain. She trembled on the outside, though inside she relentlessly held onto her lasting courage to calm herself from the eerie sight of the moon-bathed jungle that presently cast an array of daunting shadows around her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Yoseimon!" Takuya called out. "What am I doing? How can she even answer me when I call."
Takuya struck the side of his head, thinking it was stupid to wait for a non-talking creature to answer his call.
He had only left Izumi's side minutes ago, but it seemed much longer as he traveled through the gloom of the ever-present mist. The search for the injured creature had proved to be an difficult task within this elusive fog. Though just as he had thought it best to turn back and check on Izumi he heard a loud cooing noise not too far from where he stood.
"Yoseimon?" Takuya called again. "Is that you, Yoseimon?"
The coo became a loud squawk, as if Yoseimon was answering his call. The fog cleared and Yoseimon appeared covered in broken branches and leaves just a few feet away from him. He hurried over to the creature and lifted her injured wing to wrap around his shoulder for support.
"C'mon, Izumi isn't far from here. She's just--" Takuya stopped mid- sentence, his eyes fell upon the sight nearby. The sounds that came from it also became clear; the sound of rushing waters.
"A waterfall!" Takuya exclaimed as he also squinted to see, at a different angle's view, a cave. "Perfect!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Izumi grew tired, her breaths became steady and slow. She was falling deeply into sleep. Darkness came; it was pitch dark. No. Darker than pitch, it was darker than the deepest black. The sound of rustling and murmuring whispers filled her ears and stirred her eyes open.
"Where am I?" Izumi voiced. Her question echoed throughout the vast blackness.
She was standing upright and could not feel her wounded leg, as if it were numb from feeling. The murmurs of voices reverberated around her and soon became distinctly familiar.
"Kouji? Junpei?" Izumi called out to the nearby voices.
She felt blind within the black void as she waved her arms around as if to feel around. Would she find them by walking blindly around this pitch darkness? And was it possible they could hear her calls?
"Izumi, is that you?" Junpei's voice responded to her own.
"Can you see us? Where are you?" Kouji added.
"Here. I'm here!" Izumi helplessly squinted in the dark, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Junpei or Kouji.
"We can't see you!" she now heard Kouichi's voice echo around her.
Am I dreaming? Am I really hearing their voices? Izumi kept walking farther and deeper into the darkness. Nothing. Not even a glimpse of light filled her eyes.
"Izumi are you okay?" Junpei worriedly called out.
"I--I--yes." Izumi stammered, her thoughts traced back to Takuya and Yoseimon. "But where am I? I was just at the Isle of Mae and Takuya and Yoseimon they're--"
"The Isle of Mae?" echoed Kouichi, sounding confused.
"Is Takuya nearby? Is he safe?" Kouji asked.
"Whose Yoseimon?" Junpei added, sounding just as confused as Kouichi.
Izumi stopped wandering aimlessly around the darkness to reply as best she could to them. "We're inside the netherworld, that's inside the Gakido Woods. Takuya and I were sent here to fulfill this prophecy. The Isle of Mae is supposed to be an island that holds data which needs to be restored back to the barrier of this world. Takuya's trying to find Yoseimon. Oh... Yoseimon...she's my Digimon that helped us fly to this island. There is so much to explain...I don't know how to explain it all now...I--I'm just so..."
"It's alright." Kouji replied quickly. "As long as we know you two are okay...the only trouble is waiting for you to come back to us..."
"Don't you need our help?" Junpei frantically cut in. "You two are all alone in another world...another dimension. Without us, no less. How are you going to go about fulfilling another destiny when you have one back here, too?"
"And if you're in another world...how are you communicating with us?" Kouichi still queried in confusion.
"The prophecy only states that we, only Takuya and I, are needed to save this world. I don't know why." Izumi dejectedly replied. "And with our new powers--"
"New powers?" Junpei interrupted. "A new evolution?"
"No. A whole new power source. It's the Di-Cang Prophecy's will that gave us the new power. And with the help of a friendly inhabitant we also have the power of telepathy. I suppose that's why we can communicate right now." Izumi replied. "It's really incredible--the power we have."
"I suppose Lucemon has got some loyal followers trying to hunt you down as we speak, then." Kouji said while using a mildly cautious tone to continue. "I hope those new powers are strong enough to withstand anyone coming after you."
"We had a few run-ins with some of his 'loyal' cronies. They didn't last long enough to wear us down." Izumi reassured him.
"I hope you're right about anyone else that decides to change that." Kouichi warned.
"I don't know. For now we're setting our sights for Nagamon. He's got the data we need, here on this island." Izumi sighed.
"Is the land there eating away like it is here in the Digital World." Junpei asked. " Because it would be really hard finding a place to rest without being spotted."
"I don't think that the land here is being taken." Izumi replied. "More like, the Digimon are being taken. That's why its so deserted around here. The only friends we've made so far are the Mahonmon."
"Mahonmon?" Kouji said, curiously.
"Yes. They remind me so much of Kumamon...Tomoki..." Izumi trailed off, the thought of him brought back the thought of crying.
Silence was inevitable with this statement. Then, "Wait!" Izumi thought to ask, "Where are you guys? Are you okay?"
"We're still in Gakido Woods. We were separated at first but we eventually found each other. That is, excluding Bokomon and Neemon. They're still missing." Kouichi replied.
"I just hope you find them." Izumi sighed heavily. "This is crazy! All we wanted to do was cross those woods. Worse has definitely gone to worse...again."
"Don't worry, Izumi." Junpei soothed. "Just remember we're counting on you to return in one piece. And then we focus on our battle with Lucemon and rescuing Tomoki."
"We have faith in you." the twins replied together. "We'll be here waiting."
"Right!" Junpei added. "Hurry back!"
"We'll be back..." Izumi felt at ease to grin. "I just hope I'm not dreaming right now...that you're not just my imagination..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Who are you?!" Takuya yelled out, sprawled and aching against the ground.
"Not of your concern, human!" the monster hissed menacingly.
Takuya had just been on his way back to find Izumi when he was tripped by an unknown Digimon. Takuya promptly stood upright, barring his teeth angrily to ask even more impatiently, "Who are you?"
"Yashamon." the monster hissed defiantly. "And Master Nagamon will not tolerate your intrusion! You will be my first victim for tonight. Nagamon appreciates any data still lingering about the island."
The monster appeared to be a peculiar-looking animal. It had a serpent's body and head, the black, hairy wings of an over-grown bat and had the arms and claws of that of a lizard. It was certainly the most deformed beast he had ever seen.
"Your Master has the data we need!" Takuya yelled out, quickly pulling out his pocketed Lodestone. "I'm here to stop him from stealing anymore and to return the data he has stolen."
He glared at the misshapen creature and cringed at the sight. "You guys get uglier by the second." A determined, fiery-eyed smile spread across Takuya's face.
"NUSKUMON....Spirit-Samurai Evolution!" Takuya summoned.
The blinding light that had surrounded him vanished to reveal a fearless-looking Samurai knight, wielding his sword in a readied stance. "Ready to dance?"
Yashamon hissed at his comment. "Digimon or not, you will still prove to be as weak as any other petty human!" The creature lunged, screaming his attack, "Sesha Bolts!"
A familiar stream of glowing-green flares shot at him. The attack which he easily dodged.
"YOU!" Nuskumon clenched his hands tightly to his sword, now burning furiously with flames. "You were the one who attacked us...the one who hurt Izumi...and Yoseimon!"
"Ah, the human does have a brain." Yashamon cackled menacingly. "You will soon know nothing more than what is said tonight. Your life will be taken and your data is as good as MINE!"
"We'll see about that!" Nuskumon seethed angrily through clenched teeth. "Zhu-Ron Blaze!"
Nuskumon lunged his fiery sword towards Yashamon's head. Yashamon narrowly escaped the furious flaming attack as he ducked and slithered away. Nuskumon growled.
"You want to play like that, huh?" Nuskumon sneered at the monster, "Let's see you dodge this!"
Nuskumon whirled around to face his opponent. He closed his fiery coloured eyes and raised his sword to the sky. The flames of his sword flared two times its original size and now emitted flames of azure blue. Nuskumon's eyes abruptly lifted into a glare. As he lay his suspicious eyes towards Yashamon he lowered and parted his sword to show that he now held two Samurai swords.
"Double-edged Nova!" He roared, he directed his swords to point at Yashamon. A smoldering sphere of blue flames emerged in between the two swords. The heated sphere engulfed the two swords and lit them within a roaring fire. The swords then shot countless attacks of flaming blue spheres, clustered together as they collided with Yashamon.
"ARRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!" Yashamon shrieked in anguish. He could not react in time to avoid Nuskumon's attack.
Yashamon, covered in black burns, lifted himself up with his aching lizard-like arms. His claws were struggling to balance his body as they dug deeply into the earth. "Lucky shot, human dirt!"
"Lucky shot?" Nuskumon gawked at him in disbelief. "You can hardly get up, let alone match that kind of power!"
"You seem rather confident to speak so boldly of --your--power." Yashamon hissed, amused at his statement. "You have no idea, child. 'Till we meet again... I strongly advise you to watch your back..."
Yashamon clumsily slithered away from Nuskumon's reach. And in a blindingly fast move he had vanished into a tree. Nuskumon's eyes widened.
"Digital Gateway...." Nuskumon growled in realization. He narrowed his eyes towards the tree.
Nuskumon, feeling curious, approached the tree Yashamon had vanished within and touched its surface. Solid. The bark of the tree was solid. It was if there was no Gateway at all. But how, he asked himself. He shook this question away as he directed his thoughts to Izumi. She still remained back where he had left her. "'Till we meet again." he finally growled low and continued his path towards Izumi.
He reached Izumi, only to find her sleeping. His sight fell to her wound, still bleeding and looking awfully painful. He couldn't wake her from her rest, she needed it. So, Nuskumon carefully lifted her from the ground and quickly made his way back to the waterfall.
They arrived in a matter of minutes to the cave's small entrance; right behind the rushing waters was the cave's opening. He cautiously held her closer to avoid any bumps and bruises she would receive from the hard stone entrance. Inside their discreet hideaway was a burning fire, crackling and popping in the center of the cave. In the back was Yoseimon, sound asleep.
Nuskumon lay Izumi to the ground and quickly transformed back into Takuya. As he stared worriedly down at her, still sleeping as she was when he had found her, he frowned to see to the gash in her leg. Before he knew what he was doing he stood up and took his jacket off. Approaching the waterfall, he began to dampen his jacket. As he returned to Izumi's side he slowly rolled her knee-high sock down and began dabbing her wound clean.
Minutes passed when, "Takuya..." Izumi suddenly stirred awake.
Takuya jumped slightly to her awakening, "I--was just--er--"
"Oh," Izumi yawned and smiled shyly. "It would start to get infected if I didn't wash it sooner or later...I was going to do it myself....but...er...thank you." She straightened herself to sit upright.
"No problem." Takuya's cheeks reddened as she now faced him.
Izumi looked downwards as he continued to clean her wound, hiding her painful wincing expressions. Takuya was more than happy not to look her straight in the eye, for his heated face had only begun to cool down. He didn't look away from her, however. His eyes still lay focused towards her. The moonlight filtering through the waterfall highlighted her hair and when she finally looked up at him its radiant glow and the fire light beside them filled her eyes; looking warm and quickly numbing his insides.
"Izumi...erm..." Takuya hesitated, trying to find the words.
His sentence hung in silence and remained unfinished. He continued in washing her wound instead of speaking. Izumi gave him a curious look. Then, thinking rather mischievously, she strained her mind to read his thoughts.
"This isn't the time to be talking about this." Takuya thought. "We have to focus. I can't....Not know...But when?"
"Yes." Izumi interrupted his thoughts with her own. "When can you start talking..."
Takuya stared back at her. "Eavesdropping, are we?" He smirked in light of the nervousness in his voice.
Izumi blushed. "Of course not. Just sharing thoughts. Like we used to..." she said in a hinting tone.
"Some thoughts are better left in secret, Izumi...." Takuya said, in an unusual mysterious tone. "At least mine should be..." No. Not like his his usual sure and detectable voice, at all.
Izumi's wound was clean but Takuya continued to aimlessly dab his soaking jacket over her leg, obviously avoiding her eyes. Izumi placed a her hand to his. "So... you are keeping a secret from me?" she smiled in triumph.
Takuya chose to ignore her accusation. He leapt in a clumsy rush from where he sat cross-legged with Izumi and turned to walk towards the waterfall. He took his jacket to the waterfall and began wringing it with water.
"Once I catch you off guard, Takuya.... I will find your secret out." Izumi suddenly said as he returned. Her eyes twinkling in warning.
"And when, and if, you do...I'll soon find out yours." Takuya quickly replied.
Izumi gaped, surprised. "I'm not hiding anything!"
Takuya merely smirked as he took his hat and goggles off and rested them next to himself. Izumi still frowned annoyed as he lay next to her, a taunting smile spread across his features while his arms casually stretched and rested underneath his head.
"Maybe as you dream I'll steal a couple thoughts..." she forewarned him.
"I'll wait 'till--you--fall asleep then." Takuya chuckled. "So I can do the same."
Izumi pouted and lay next him, her arms crossed to her chest. "You're impossible, Takuya Kanbara."
"You're getting on my nerves, Izumi Orimoto." Takuya continued to chuckle.
Izumi smiled. She loved to hear his bright laughter, for it was not that often that she heard it since Tomoki had been taken away. And now she heard it lighten the tense midnight air. This night, which had now been filled with their long awaited moment of ease, happiness and escape from their troubled situations, held the sense of what they truly were, besides heroes and destined warriors: Children. As the laughter died down and their weary minds drifted to sleep the fire's light, warm ambience and crackling and popping sounds were soon the last things they had stirring in their thoughts. Little did they know that not too far from the cave was a lurking creature spying rather intently at them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: OH NO! NOT ANOTHER LONG, LONG CHAPTER! ^^ Gomen ne...-__-;;; Well, I hope you enjoyed it anyways! ^_^; I hope this..... gradual building of their relationship... isn't to slow-paced for you, too. It's just that it's suppose to be this way to show you how realistic they have to deal with the relationship through time and through their journey...A very trying journey, I might add...one that lets your mind think of survival...not just love. So anyways, I'd like to hear your thoughts about this chapter. I haven't updated in such a LONG, LONG time....so please R&R! I've missed you guys! ^^
Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon, Digimon Characters or any other related subjects that are directly copyrighted towards Toei Animation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Pure of Heart: Netherworld Journey {I}
For Wajiha...GIGI...Gia...WAJ!...."Hmm...I smell good!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Midnight Brawl and Distant Murmurs -Chapter 8- [Part 1]
The strange stillness of the air was yet another factor that had been added to her already rising fear. This odd new setting was nothing short of creepy. The haunting mist still hung in the surrounding atmosphere like ghostly shrouds drifting soundlessly around the tropical terrain. Exotic trees, knee-high grass and shrubs grew all around and many things were laden with dangling vines and embellished with enormous leaves. And every now and then there came tiny, gleaming pinpricks of light floating inside and out of the engulfing amount of fog that mingled ominously around her. These unfamiliar lights kept turning on and then abruptly off.
Could there be actual creatures on this island? Could these flicking lights be fireflies?
A weak smile broke across her dreading expression. Though just as the thought of having company by her side seemed comforting, a sudden reminiscent memory caught her off guard. This memory left her feeling frightful. Her bones began to feel as if they had been trembling from an icy chill, gripping vice-like to her body. Her muscles seized up in fear. The memory kept gnawing at the back of her mind as she tried to forcefully push it away. It still remained. Then suddenly the memory and its heeding words came striking like a furious gale at her nerves.
'Unearthly spirits never stray too far from the drifting fireflies amidst the dead of the night.'
She quickly hugged her knees closer to herself as she stared wildly around. And there still had not been any rousing stir nor an audible sound in the near distance.
"Hurry, Takuya." Izumi whispered to herself.
Her left hand gripped tightly to her gashed leg, it bled less but had no effect in soothing the pain. She trembled on the outside, though inside she relentlessly held onto her lasting courage to calm herself from the eerie sight of the moon-bathed jungle that presently cast an array of daunting shadows around her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Yoseimon!" Takuya called out. "What am I doing? How can she even answer me when I call."
Takuya struck the side of his head, thinking it was stupid to wait for a non-talking creature to answer his call.
He had only left Izumi's side minutes ago, but it seemed much longer as he traveled through the gloom of the ever-present mist. The search for the injured creature had proved to be an difficult task within this elusive fog. Though just as he had thought it best to turn back and check on Izumi he heard a loud cooing noise not too far from where he stood.
"Yoseimon?" Takuya called again. "Is that you, Yoseimon?"
The coo became a loud squawk, as if Yoseimon was answering his call. The fog cleared and Yoseimon appeared covered in broken branches and leaves just a few feet away from him. He hurried over to the creature and lifted her injured wing to wrap around his shoulder for support.
"C'mon, Izumi isn't far from here. She's just--" Takuya stopped mid- sentence, his eyes fell upon the sight nearby. The sounds that came from it also became clear; the sound of rushing waters.
"A waterfall!" Takuya exclaimed as he also squinted to see, at a different angle's view, a cave. "Perfect!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Izumi grew tired, her breaths became steady and slow. She was falling deeply into sleep. Darkness came; it was pitch dark. No. Darker than pitch, it was darker than the deepest black. The sound of rustling and murmuring whispers filled her ears and stirred her eyes open.
"Where am I?" Izumi voiced. Her question echoed throughout the vast blackness.
She was standing upright and could not feel her wounded leg, as if it were numb from feeling. The murmurs of voices reverberated around her and soon became distinctly familiar.
"Kouji? Junpei?" Izumi called out to the nearby voices.
She felt blind within the black void as she waved her arms around as if to feel around. Would she find them by walking blindly around this pitch darkness? And was it possible they could hear her calls?
"Izumi, is that you?" Junpei's voice responded to her own.
"Can you see us? Where are you?" Kouji added.
"Here. I'm here!" Izumi helplessly squinted in the dark, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Junpei or Kouji.
"We can't see you!" she now heard Kouichi's voice echo around her.
Am I dreaming? Am I really hearing their voices? Izumi kept walking farther and deeper into the darkness. Nothing. Not even a glimpse of light filled her eyes.
"Izumi are you okay?" Junpei worriedly called out.
"I--I--yes." Izumi stammered, her thoughts traced back to Takuya and Yoseimon. "But where am I? I was just at the Isle of Mae and Takuya and Yoseimon they're--"
"The Isle of Mae?" echoed Kouichi, sounding confused.
"Is Takuya nearby? Is he safe?" Kouji asked.
"Whose Yoseimon?" Junpei added, sounding just as confused as Kouichi.
Izumi stopped wandering aimlessly around the darkness to reply as best she could to them. "We're inside the netherworld, that's inside the Gakido Woods. Takuya and I were sent here to fulfill this prophecy. The Isle of Mae is supposed to be an island that holds data which needs to be restored back to the barrier of this world. Takuya's trying to find Yoseimon. Oh... Yoseimon...she's my Digimon that helped us fly to this island. There is so much to explain...I don't know how to explain it all now...I--I'm just so..."
"It's alright." Kouji replied quickly. "As long as we know you two are okay...the only trouble is waiting for you to come back to us..."
"Don't you need our help?" Junpei frantically cut in. "You two are all alone in another world...another dimension. Without us, no less. How are you going to go about fulfilling another destiny when you have one back here, too?"
"And if you're in another world...how are you communicating with us?" Kouichi still queried in confusion.
"The prophecy only states that we, only Takuya and I, are needed to save this world. I don't know why." Izumi dejectedly replied. "And with our new powers--"
"New powers?" Junpei interrupted. "A new evolution?"
"No. A whole new power source. It's the Di-Cang Prophecy's will that gave us the new power. And with the help of a friendly inhabitant we also have the power of telepathy. I suppose that's why we can communicate right now." Izumi replied. "It's really incredible--the power we have."
"I suppose Lucemon has got some loyal followers trying to hunt you down as we speak, then." Kouji said while using a mildly cautious tone to continue. "I hope those new powers are strong enough to withstand anyone coming after you."
"We had a few run-ins with some of his 'loyal' cronies. They didn't last long enough to wear us down." Izumi reassured him.
"I hope you're right about anyone else that decides to change that." Kouichi warned.
"I don't know. For now we're setting our sights for Nagamon. He's got the data we need, here on this island." Izumi sighed.
"Is the land there eating away like it is here in the Digital World." Junpei asked. " Because it would be really hard finding a place to rest without being spotted."
"I don't think that the land here is being taken." Izumi replied. "More like, the Digimon are being taken. That's why its so deserted around here. The only friends we've made so far are the Mahonmon."
"Mahonmon?" Kouji said, curiously.
"Yes. They remind me so much of Kumamon...Tomoki..." Izumi trailed off, the thought of him brought back the thought of crying.
Silence was inevitable with this statement. Then, "Wait!" Izumi thought to ask, "Where are you guys? Are you okay?"
"We're still in Gakido Woods. We were separated at first but we eventually found each other. That is, excluding Bokomon and Neemon. They're still missing." Kouichi replied.
"I just hope you find them." Izumi sighed heavily. "This is crazy! All we wanted to do was cross those woods. Worse has definitely gone to worse...again."
"Don't worry, Izumi." Junpei soothed. "Just remember we're counting on you to return in one piece. And then we focus on our battle with Lucemon and rescuing Tomoki."
"We have faith in you." the twins replied together. "We'll be here waiting."
"Right!" Junpei added. "Hurry back!"
"We'll be back..." Izumi felt at ease to grin. "I just hope I'm not dreaming right now...that you're not just my imagination..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Who are you?!" Takuya yelled out, sprawled and aching against the ground.
"Not of your concern, human!" the monster hissed menacingly.
Takuya had just been on his way back to find Izumi when he was tripped by an unknown Digimon. Takuya promptly stood upright, barring his teeth angrily to ask even more impatiently, "Who are you?"
"Yashamon." the monster hissed defiantly. "And Master Nagamon will not tolerate your intrusion! You will be my first victim for tonight. Nagamon appreciates any data still lingering about the island."
The monster appeared to be a peculiar-looking animal. It had a serpent's body and head, the black, hairy wings of an over-grown bat and had the arms and claws of that of a lizard. It was certainly the most deformed beast he had ever seen.
"Your Master has the data we need!" Takuya yelled out, quickly pulling out his pocketed Lodestone. "I'm here to stop him from stealing anymore and to return the data he has stolen."
He glared at the misshapen creature and cringed at the sight. "You guys get uglier by the second." A determined, fiery-eyed smile spread across Takuya's face.
"NUSKUMON....Spirit-Samurai Evolution!" Takuya summoned.
The blinding light that had surrounded him vanished to reveal a fearless-looking Samurai knight, wielding his sword in a readied stance. "Ready to dance?"
Yashamon hissed at his comment. "Digimon or not, you will still prove to be as weak as any other petty human!" The creature lunged, screaming his attack, "Sesha Bolts!"
A familiar stream of glowing-green flares shot at him. The attack which he easily dodged.
"YOU!" Nuskumon clenched his hands tightly to his sword, now burning furiously with flames. "You were the one who attacked us...the one who hurt Izumi...and Yoseimon!"
"Ah, the human does have a brain." Yashamon cackled menacingly. "You will soon know nothing more than what is said tonight. Your life will be taken and your data is as good as MINE!"
"We'll see about that!" Nuskumon seethed angrily through clenched teeth. "Zhu-Ron Blaze!"
Nuskumon lunged his fiery sword towards Yashamon's head. Yashamon narrowly escaped the furious flaming attack as he ducked and slithered away. Nuskumon growled.
"You want to play like that, huh?" Nuskumon sneered at the monster, "Let's see you dodge this!"
Nuskumon whirled around to face his opponent. He closed his fiery coloured eyes and raised his sword to the sky. The flames of his sword flared two times its original size and now emitted flames of azure blue. Nuskumon's eyes abruptly lifted into a glare. As he lay his suspicious eyes towards Yashamon he lowered and parted his sword to show that he now held two Samurai swords.
"Double-edged Nova!" He roared, he directed his swords to point at Yashamon. A smoldering sphere of blue flames emerged in between the two swords. The heated sphere engulfed the two swords and lit them within a roaring fire. The swords then shot countless attacks of flaming blue spheres, clustered together as they collided with Yashamon.
"ARRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!" Yashamon shrieked in anguish. He could not react in time to avoid Nuskumon's attack.
Yashamon, covered in black burns, lifted himself up with his aching lizard-like arms. His claws were struggling to balance his body as they dug deeply into the earth. "Lucky shot, human dirt!"
"Lucky shot?" Nuskumon gawked at him in disbelief. "You can hardly get up, let alone match that kind of power!"
"You seem rather confident to speak so boldly of --your--power." Yashamon hissed, amused at his statement. "You have no idea, child. 'Till we meet again... I strongly advise you to watch your back..."
Yashamon clumsily slithered away from Nuskumon's reach. And in a blindingly fast move he had vanished into a tree. Nuskumon's eyes widened.
"Digital Gateway...." Nuskumon growled in realization. He narrowed his eyes towards the tree.
Nuskumon, feeling curious, approached the tree Yashamon had vanished within and touched its surface. Solid. The bark of the tree was solid. It was if there was no Gateway at all. But how, he asked himself. He shook this question away as he directed his thoughts to Izumi. She still remained back where he had left her. "'Till we meet again." he finally growled low and continued his path towards Izumi.
He reached Izumi, only to find her sleeping. His sight fell to her wound, still bleeding and looking awfully painful. He couldn't wake her from her rest, she needed it. So, Nuskumon carefully lifted her from the ground and quickly made his way back to the waterfall.
They arrived in a matter of minutes to the cave's small entrance; right behind the rushing waters was the cave's opening. He cautiously held her closer to avoid any bumps and bruises she would receive from the hard stone entrance. Inside their discreet hideaway was a burning fire, crackling and popping in the center of the cave. In the back was Yoseimon, sound asleep.
Nuskumon lay Izumi to the ground and quickly transformed back into Takuya. As he stared worriedly down at her, still sleeping as she was when he had found her, he frowned to see to the gash in her leg. Before he knew what he was doing he stood up and took his jacket off. Approaching the waterfall, he began to dampen his jacket. As he returned to Izumi's side he slowly rolled her knee-high sock down and began dabbing her wound clean.
Minutes passed when, "Takuya..." Izumi suddenly stirred awake.
Takuya jumped slightly to her awakening, "I--was just--er--"
"Oh," Izumi yawned and smiled shyly. "It would start to get infected if I didn't wash it sooner or later...I was going to do it myself....but...er...thank you." She straightened herself to sit upright.
"No problem." Takuya's cheeks reddened as she now faced him.
Izumi looked downwards as he continued to clean her wound, hiding her painful wincing expressions. Takuya was more than happy not to look her straight in the eye, for his heated face had only begun to cool down. He didn't look away from her, however. His eyes still lay focused towards her. The moonlight filtering through the waterfall highlighted her hair and when she finally looked up at him its radiant glow and the fire light beside them filled her eyes; looking warm and quickly numbing his insides.
"Izumi...erm..." Takuya hesitated, trying to find the words.
His sentence hung in silence and remained unfinished. He continued in washing her wound instead of speaking. Izumi gave him a curious look. Then, thinking rather mischievously, she strained her mind to read his thoughts.
"This isn't the time to be talking about this." Takuya thought. "We have to focus. I can't....Not know...But when?"
"Yes." Izumi interrupted his thoughts with her own. "When can you start talking..."
Takuya stared back at her. "Eavesdropping, are we?" He smirked in light of the nervousness in his voice.
Izumi blushed. "Of course not. Just sharing thoughts. Like we used to..." she said in a hinting tone.
"Some thoughts are better left in secret, Izumi...." Takuya said, in an unusual mysterious tone. "At least mine should be..." No. Not like his his usual sure and detectable voice, at all.
Izumi's wound was clean but Takuya continued to aimlessly dab his soaking jacket over her leg, obviously avoiding her eyes. Izumi placed a her hand to his. "So... you are keeping a secret from me?" she smiled in triumph.
Takuya chose to ignore her accusation. He leapt in a clumsy rush from where he sat cross-legged with Izumi and turned to walk towards the waterfall. He took his jacket to the waterfall and began wringing it with water.
"Once I catch you off guard, Takuya.... I will find your secret out." Izumi suddenly said as he returned. Her eyes twinkling in warning.
"And when, and if, you do...I'll soon find out yours." Takuya quickly replied.
Izumi gaped, surprised. "I'm not hiding anything!"
Takuya merely smirked as he took his hat and goggles off and rested them next to himself. Izumi still frowned annoyed as he lay next to her, a taunting smile spread across his features while his arms casually stretched and rested underneath his head.
"Maybe as you dream I'll steal a couple thoughts..." she forewarned him.
"I'll wait 'till--you--fall asleep then." Takuya chuckled. "So I can do the same."
Izumi pouted and lay next him, her arms crossed to her chest. "You're impossible, Takuya Kanbara."
"You're getting on my nerves, Izumi Orimoto." Takuya continued to chuckle.
Izumi smiled. She loved to hear his bright laughter, for it was not that often that she heard it since Tomoki had been taken away. And now she heard it lighten the tense midnight air. This night, which had now been filled with their long awaited moment of ease, happiness and escape from their troubled situations, held the sense of what they truly were, besides heroes and destined warriors: Children. As the laughter died down and their weary minds drifted to sleep the fire's light, warm ambience and crackling and popping sounds were soon the last things they had stirring in their thoughts. Little did they know that not too far from the cave was a lurking creature spying rather intently at them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: OH NO! NOT ANOTHER LONG, LONG CHAPTER! ^^ Gomen ne...-__-;;; Well, I hope you enjoyed it anyways! ^_^; I hope this..... gradual building of their relationship... isn't to slow-paced for you, too. It's just that it's suppose to be this way to show you how realistic they have to deal with the relationship through time and through their journey...A very trying journey, I might add...one that lets your mind think of survival...not just love. So anyways, I'd like to hear your thoughts about this chapter. I haven't updated in such a LONG, LONG time....so please R&R! I've missed you guys! ^^