The Footsteps are Fading

Chapter Six

"Sweet, blissful umbrage!"

Daisuke flopped onto his back under a large, shady tree. He gazed up at Hikari's amused face and rolled onto his side, which gave him a broad view on the insides of the oasis.

"Should we search for food or water?"

"The water's most likely underground, so let's find something to eat."

They scavenged then for a half an hour and returned fruitlessly to their rendezvous point. They sat quietly in the speckled shade, stared up at the sun, at each other sometimes, and thought in muteness. There wasn't anything here but shade, and as helpful as that was, it wasn't exactly life sustaining. Daisuke played mindlessly with the bark of a nearby tree. He twisted and pulled at it until a chunk fell onto the ground, which he promptly stuck into his mouth.

"I'm hungry," he said, chewing halfheartedly on the 'morsel'.

"You might get sick from that."

"Who cares. Then I could die quickly and – Kari?"

"Yeah?"

"I have a weird feeling about this place. Like…something is here. Something that…"

He trailed off and stared up at the trees. How unusually tall they were. And their leaves… He spit out the bark and stood up.

"Kari. This is it. This has to be the spot."

"What? What spot?"

"Somewhere in this place is the guy that we're looking for, I can feel it."

"I think you've been out in the sun too long."

"No, this has to be it!" he pointed past himself, into a long stretch of trees. "Do you see how they're lined up so uniformly like? And their leaves! They're trimmed!"

"Davis…why would a guy who destroys practically all life on a planet trim the leaves of the trees around him? Wouldn't it make sense that he would blow them up instead?"

"No, not really. Maybe he's one of those enemies who camouflages himself by hiding in places no one would expect him to."

She stared at him severely.

"Kari! Listen to me! This is it! We just have to search some more and maybe-"

"Well, you can waste your time searching for a secret door to his master mind hide out place, but I'm going to go search for food again."

"Alright, but just keep an eye out for odd things, and you'll see what I'm talking about soon."

"I doubt it."

She faded into the scenery, and not a moment later Daisuke heard her scream. He darted to the sound of her voice, and found her pinned up against a tree, with an enormous digimon breathing into her white face.

"Leomon?"

The head craned in his direction with ostentatious slowness, but when their eyes did meet, there was no doubt that this was Leomon, a digimon that most of the older digidestined considered a friend. Yet how unfriendly the guy looked.

His great, golden paw was curved around the lower portion of Hikari's face, and his dull black claws were denting the softness of her cheek. His countenance was perturbed and a little frightening when considering his deeply shadowed eyes. The eyes had frozen Daisuke to the spot, and when he heard a low rumble from the back of Leomon's throat, he would have spent his whole fortune at a wishing well, wishing he had Veemon back.

Grass gave way easily under Leomon's advancing paw. His grip slowly loosened from Hikari and Daisuke found himself in the angle of a pacing, snorting lion. Oh, god.

Leomon lashed forward with extended claws at the man's face, but Daisuke had just enough wit left in him to jump back. Leomon abruptly rushed straight at his chest, Daisuke heard Hikari screaming, then hundreds of pounds were slamming into him, forcing him off his feet. His breath was instantly gone, and all the cuts and bruises from the pale lady's infliction laughed at him in disparagement. Little black dots speckled his vision, his blurred hearing told him that Hikari was still screaming, and the pain, oh god the pain, that was reawakened hurt SO much. He got his hands behind him and was pushing up when the two giant forepaws of Leomon shoved him back. Then there was a black and golden face snarling not an inch from his eyes, his chest was trying to heave with air but the paws restrained the diaphragm, and he could feel rather than see the oozes of blood that the claws were extracting from his chest. He became frantic, like anyone would in a similar situation. Any part of his body that was not pinned down he threw up against the overpowering body of Leomon, ignoring the tenderness of the old bruises. He kneed the digimon's legs and lower body, tried gripping and pulling at him with his hands, even pushing on his face, but the body was like hard rock, and with every struggle Daisuke could feel the claws wrenching further into his chest. He abated his attack for a moment and tried to think. Did he have anything that could be used as a weapon? Pain neurons kept screaming to him about the pain, the pain, please stop the pain, but Daisuke was thinking calmly now and he remembered…he had a skinning knife that he used on his hunting trips. Ecstasy pounded in his chest, because he remembered…taking it out of his bag…putting it in his…pocket! His hand flew down to the correct pocket and felt it's cool metal. It wasn't large, more for smaller animals, but it was now his best hope. He gripped the handle of it and slowly brought it up closer. Hikari stopped screaming in the background. He wondered if she had seen, or if she had been captured by some new enemy, but focused on inching the blade up closer, closer… Leomon's claws dug in further suddenly, and he growled into Daisuke's face, "Don't try it, human," but he had to. As quickly as he could, he flashed the blade up to Leomon's face and slashed him diagonally across the brow. He saw Leomon open his cavernous mouth to strike, and unconsciously pushed the knife up into the roof of his mouth. The handle protruded grotesquely for a moment, with his hand still wrapped around it, then Leomon snapped his mouth shut (Daisuke had fortunately just pulled his hand away) and glared menacingly at the man. He was afraid that the blade had not punctured Leomon's brain completely enough to kill him, when the digimon's eyes rolled backwards and his body tumbled on top of the already crushed man. The claws were still pushing into his chest, now more than ever, and finally Daisuke gave into the thoughts of pain, pain, must stop pain. He strained his arms against the body, then his legs, too, and he just managed to flip the great beast off of himself. He surveyed the damage, exhausted. Trying to be a true, tough hero, he told himself that he could still walk so there was no real harm done, although every inch of his body was screaming in protest. But forget that. He looked over at Hikari.

She was squatting near the tree with her arms wrapped around herself and her face was as white as new snow. She wasn't facing his way.

Daisuke crawled over to her slowly, trying not to damage his chest anymore and favoring any extremely banged up limbs. She heard him and hastily turned to look him over. He looked half purple, with mixtures of red on his shirt, face, and hand, and mortifying look of desperateness still shining in his dark eyes. Desperate to get away from that expression, she rested her head gently against his shoulder, initially avoiding his eyes. He put an arm around her hunched shoulders, leaning his head on hers. She mumbled something into his shirt.

"Yeah, I'm okay," he replied, "are you?"

There was an assertive nod on his shirt and another mumble. Daisuke could only catch the word 'digimon', but he fancied that he could understand how she felt completely. It worried him now, to find a hostile digimon that had actually attacked him. It shouldn't have been so surprising, but he began to comprehend how much they had realied on the digimon before, and could even place that analogy on Hikari and himself now. But it didn't feel so bad, fighting for someone else, and he supposed that he wouldn't mind doing it again. The aftershock wasn't so bad as the presentshock had been, so now he could imagine repeating the feat many times just for the sake of Hikari. He rubbed his hand up and down her back, felt the outline of her spine, and began loving her with a new sort of love… one that would only allow him the protection of Hikari, and nothing else. So her being safe in his arms was such a pleasing feeling, that he wanted her to always be safe like this, always have him to count on. He even began to say this thought to her, but decided against the complexity of it. Instead he said nothing, and just held her closer. She lifted her head a little and said:

"Davis, do you think that Leomon was the one that we were looking for? The one that caused you to have that feeling earlier?"

"No, I think there's something else here, too. Perhaps he was guarding it."

She smiled at him and then leaned back into his warm body.

In the real world, suspicion was festering. Normal people turned quickly into conspiracy theorists, and the cynical nodded and said they had known it all along. The people of Japan, China, and Java were mysteriously dying, and no government official had anything to say of the subject. There were no press conferences, in fact it was stunningly clear that there was indeed a government conspiracy going on. Then there began to be assassinations of leaders. Yusril Ihza Mahendra of the Crescent Moon and Star party in Java was shot while bording a flight to Japan. Likewise Akbar Tandjung from the Federation of Functional Groups of Golkar was felled while walking amidst his own yard. In China the masses of people were still repressed by their communist government, and unhappily sat in their homes, plotting but afraid. Japan's government officials, including Tetsuzo Fuwa and Yukio Hatoyama, who were usually divided on most subjects, had banded together to prepare for any uprising. Then officials who seemed epigones of the shoguns and jitos of the 1100's multiplied. Suddenly the government took on the long dead ideology of the warrior Yoritomo, and chaos was met openly on the streets. Riots, theft – Japan made headlines all over the world for its unruly population, and yet to half of that population the cause was unknown. All the people knew was the effect, and the effects of that effect. Pandemonium welcomed one when one stepped out of the house, hit one when one boarded a subway…Japan was collapsing. Java, with it's 120 million plus population, was bending under the pressure of the people. China was sending out Gestapo-like mercenaries all over the country. Fright was only second to fury. First Fury, then Fright, but never give in early. Yet for some fright was all they could manage, and for one man, Yamato, fright was due to a missing spouse. A month passed in total anarchy and he feared her dead; perhaps caught in some crowd and trampled to death. Yet he could not bear to think of the possibilities, so he prayed every night for her safe return, and didn't allow his children to go to school.

By chance or fate, Hikari's screaming reached the keen ears of her brother. Maybe just miles away, she saw Daisuke battling a digimon twice his size, and Taichi could hear the urgency in her voice. He took off at a sprint and wasn't supposing to wait for Sora, when something tugged at him to slow down. Confusion set in, but with a little resentment, he decided on jogging, a pace he thought was safe enough for them not to get separated. To his surprise, Sora streaked past him at full speed, not even throwing a glance back at him. He grinned and a little race between the two ensued.

On reaching the foliage, Taichi called out Hikari's name loudly. There was no answer and the place seemed to be deserted. But that couldn't be. Sora and he ducked into the trees and searched fruitlessly for minutes, then they reached a clearing like a path and followed it's length. Half way across it they found Hikari, huddled up with Daisuke.

"Davis!" he exclaimed, "what happened? Where's everybody else?"

The one in question looked up. Taichi's thoughts and movements fell over dead. Oh Jesus what had happened to this guy? He was half-dead! His body couldn't possible take anymore, and judging by the noticeable slump in his shoulders, he was mentally on the verge of death as well. Then Taichi caught his eye, and they bluntly stated, 'I killed someone, so nothing can hurt me now.'

"Davis."

Sora tugged on his shirt quietly, and when she had his attention, pointed to the felled figure of a dolphin, lying on its side, showing off a red sign of eternity. But the image didn't exactly click into anything he knew, so he dismissed it for the time being. Yet how odd…

He walked over and squatted next to the two, earnestly in search for Hikari's face, but it was hidden in Dasuke's shoulder. He touched her lightly on the back and whispered her name, and suddenly there was a transfer of safeness as she moved from Daisuke's arms into her brother's. He petted her head a little, thinking of nothing but how great it felt to have her safe. Somewhat like Daisuke's new conviction, yet not in so high a degree. It was merely an acknowledgment of how he much he had missed her. Yet abruptly he stood up and Daisuke followed suit. They stared at each other; each wondering what the past weeks had brought the other. On the verge of conversation, Hikari butted in.

"How is Japan?"

Out of the corner of his eye Taichi saw Sora's head snap towards his sister in surprise, perhaps anxiety, but he answered calmly.

"It was still functioning when I left it. Why are you worried about it?"

She looked up at him painfully, but just shook her head and gazed at the ground.

Daisuke seemed less inclined to conversation, but as a result of constant pestering, he was soon spilling all that had happened since the mesa. The rebellious spirit of the team angered Taichi some, but when Daisuke mentioned that his still very visible bruises and cuts were from a pale woman, the color of Taichi's face started to fade and he stopped Daisuke's narrative to question him more closely on the subject.

"What was she fighting you for?"

"I can't clearly remember…she didn't talk much. I can recall everyone else asleep on the ground, and her throwing me around like nothing. She kept on saying something like: 'Kara no dorei. Kara no dorei, ja nai,' but other than that she was silent."

Slave? Taichi's head rang with the sentence. Kara no dorei…kara no dorei, je nai? What could she mean by calling them "empty slaves"? And the last words, ja nai, they sounded so teasing. He could imagine her voice when she said it, even saw her lips part and mouth out, "you're an empty slave, aren't you?"

How angry it made him!  

"Davis, why didn't you fight back?"

"I…I…" Daisuke's head rolled gently to his shoulder, then his entire body slumped sideways into the ground, finally giving in to the pressing need to recover.

Taichi stared hard at this totally exhausted man. He sat down on the ground by him and watched his chest rise and fall, saw his eyelids twitch and his fingers jerk in uneasy sleep. He couldn't begin to imagine what the sleep held for the mistreated leader, and decided that it wasn't anything that he would like to share. He turned to Sora, who was watching him evenly, then to Hikari, who was staring at the grass still. The dolphin suddenly flickered in his memory, and he held his attention to it for a second; scrutinizing its form and being. That dolphin is weird, he whispered in his mind. He felt the grass around his hand dent in further as Sora crawled next to him. "Do you think he'll be okay?"

"Somewhere…where did everyone else go?"

"But he'll be okay I think, all he needs is some rest, and maybe some bandaging."

"He could have at least told us that much."

"Tai?"

He glanced at her. Her steady gaze was unnerving, and her face was surprisingly close to his.

"And…and…why are you looking at me like that?"

Silence echoed back to him. There in her he could see an emptiness that had been overlooked so many times before. The way that she had always cared for others signified that she was mentally sane and sturdy, but her eyes portrayed such a different image it was frightening. And her eyes were so beautiful…He was sucked into that strong red and could actually begin to comprehend as he began spiraling down its depths just how much thought that red had seen, and how un-inferior it really was to himself. Yet he shouldn't compare, no one ever should. Nevertheless it was so sudden that the fervor that that red screamed at him was so commanding and painful that he couldn't honestly find it in himself to give in one last time due to incompetence. He couldn't let anything like this ever happen again. He certainly couldn't…

He ripped his gaze away from her crimson red eyes just in time to stop his rapid decent.

"Sora," he gasped, "How could you leave your children back there?"

"Hm?" Bemused, she sat back and hugged her knees to her chest. Then she looked him carefully in the eye and said: "This may sound terrible and put me in a bad light but…sometimes overbearing on a subject isn't healthy and should just be…put to an end, no matter what end that is and how you acquire it."

He stared at her in perplexity, but his concentration on what she had meant was soon broken by a rumbling that issued forth from all around them. Hikari stood up shakily on her legs and ran towards Taichi, stumbling every now and then, and Daisuke was rudely awakened from his pre-mortem sleep. The roaring halted any conversation, but none would want to talk, as they watched the tree tops above their heads shake violently. Clouds from out of nowhere, or perhaps all corners of the digital world, amassed in the sky over them and a deathly blackness stuffed the air full of malevolent spirit. They watched in astonishment as the body of the dolphin was lifted off of the ground and soon eaten by the overshadowing masses of accumulated precipitation.  Confusion reflected in all hearts, but fear in only three.        

In Taichi's heart there was a fortified wall made of steel, constructed for one rationale only…

*skazzy ending song stolen from Weiss Kruez intro*

"Tada itoshiki mono dakishime

Chiisaki mono mamoru tame

Kyou mo dareka ga sakebu

Kono inochi sae mo nagedashi

Toki no naka de moetsukiru

Sono isshun ni kuchizuke wo…"