In the Dark
Part Eighteen: The Bridge Leads To…
***
Standard Disclaimer Thingie: All of this is mine! The plot, that is. The characters are property of Blahblahblah, Inc. and MegaGiant Company. Whatever. Don't bother suing me because I have free speech (only fifty cents a word) and I have no money to give you anyway. I work in a supermarket. It doesn't make that much, trust me.
***
Feet crunched through the slushy snow. The trees were thick in this area of the forest, making running difficult. A pair of boots hurried, making slushy footprints that melted almost as soon as they formed. The air was too warm to support the newly fallen snow for very long.
The sun was still hours away from the beginning of its daily trek across the sky, but the clouds that had brought the snow were parting and letting through glimpses of moonlight, allowing only a bit more visibility than before.
Behind the pair of boots that thumped through the snow was a pair of more agile feline feet. Undaunted by the cold and unhindered by clunky shoes, Tailmon dashed behind her partner, glancing behind them every so often to see if she could get a better idea of what was following them. Snow crashed to the ground in their wake, but the lack of solid snow didn't seem to be deterring their pursuers. Even though the light was improving and Hikari still carried her torch, there was simply not enough light to get a good look at them.
But then, she wasn't concerned with what was chasing them, she was just trying to get away.
***
"I see something below," Iori observed. "It looks like a burning tree."
Miyako peered through the darkness. "I wonder what happened…."
"Looks serious," Armadimon commented. "Should we see what it's about?"
"Already on it!" Holsmon answered as he began to fly lower to the ground.
***
She emerged, breathless, in a clearing. A tree stood just to her right, separated from the rest of the forest. She noticed it for one reason only, and that was because it was ablaze.
"Do you think we might be on the right trail?" Tailmon questioned, a half-step behind her partner.
"Possibly," Hikari agreed, looking around frantically. "But if this is where Takeru and Daisuke went, then, where are they now? Where have they gone?"
Before Tailmon could produce a plausible theory, the shuffling sound behind them continued, and a few rocks fell to the ground at their feet. Whatever was chasing them had apparently realized that snow would no longer be an effective weapon. The ground had become softer, and Hikari was suddenly aware that her feet were becoming stuck in the mire and mud. The terrain was no longer frozen, in fact, it was swampy. She looked down and realized that the hem of her skirt was dragging in the water.
"A swamp?" Tailmon wondered aloud, stepping back. She didn't particularly care for the water.
A stone made contact with the water a few feet from them. It made a hollow, low sound as it crashed into the water and a splash as it plummeted under water. Tailmon reconsidered, stepping cautiously into the bog.
Suddenly, there was a shout from over head. "There she is!" Iori's voice sounded through the dark sky. Hikari looked up and saw the form of a giant bird overhead. Holsmon sank lower to the earth, landing gently on what was still solid ground.
"Where have you been?" Miyako questioned. "We were supposed to stick together, remember?" She slid off Holsmon and helped Iori and Armadimon to dismount before Holsmon de-evolved, tired from the long flight.
"Yes, I know," Hikari answered, feeling slightly sheepish. "I thought I saw something below and I went to check it out. I tried to tell you but you were too far away."
"We think that Daisuke and Takeru came this way," Tailmon added, pointing toward the burning tree.
"That would be my conclusion as well," Iori agreed, observing the evidence. "But why did they come this way? And where did they go after they left?"
"We've been trying to figure that out."
Another rock splashed a few feet away, and then, apparently deciding that they weren't going to be afraid of Holsmon, the rock throwing multiplied, and suddenly, a small barrage of rocks was being heaved into the swamp.
"Where's that coming from?" Miyako demanded, hiding behind a tree. "Who's doing that?"
"We haven't been able to figure that out either," Hikari admitted, crouching low to the ground and trying to ignore the mud that was now almost completely covering her. "They threw snow before, we weren't too concerned."
"Well, now I think we might want to be concerned," Iori commented.
"Should I do something?" Armadimon questioned.
"Seems the best option," his partner conceded. "Digimental up!"
"Armadimon armor evolve! Digmon!" A bright white light momentarily filled the area and then dissipated, revealing that the small armor-plated digimon had been replaced with a much larger one. "Big Crack!"
There was a small but effective quaking of the earth that caused everyone in the area to momentarily lose balance. Hikari lost her small battle with the mud and sat down hard in the muck and mire. Miyako stumbled but managed to regain her balance, thanks to the solid ground beneath her own feet. The barrage of rocks stopped, and a few shouts of surprise and possible pain sounded from the dark expanse in the trees.
"We haven't got time to spend on a fight," Hikari reminded them, pulling herself to her feet. "We have to find the others." She glanced toward Hawkmon. "Don't suppose you could fly any longer?"
Hawkmon shook his head, sighing. "I don't believe I have the strength. We did miss dinner this evening, you remember."
"It's up to us then, Tailmon. Can you?"
"I think I can manage. As long as we don't go too far."
"I just want to fly overhead and see if we can spot anything. It won't take but a minute," Hikari assured her. "Digimental up!"
"Tailmon armor evolve! Nefertimon!"
"Wait!" Miyako interrupted as Hikari was climbing aboard her partner's back. "What do we do in the meantime?"
"It won't take long," Hikari answered. "Keep your eyes open. Look for footprints. Try to figure out where they went. I'll be back before you know it." She waved and was gone, soaring toward the treetops.
***
"Do you see that up ahead?" Takeru panted as they both ran through the swamp, slowed down by the thick mud beneath the shallow water. He pointed ahead of them.
"I can't – see anything – it's too dark," Daisuke answered, a few steps behind him. He was really becoming tired from all the running. Fladramon had reverted to V-mon and so he had to carry the small digimon through the mud, which was too high to make running possible for him.
"The moon's come out," Takeru answered. "It's bright enough. I think I see a bridge."
They both paused in their running for a moment, and Daisuke squinted through the dark night to try to see what Takeru was referring to. Just as he thought he made out a dim shape, there was a sudden flash of bright light which dimmed quickly. In the instant that the light was bright enough, the bridge was as visible as if it were daylight.
It was a treacherous looking bridge held together mostly by rope and built from loose pieces of wood. The wood was ancient, weatherworn, and most definitely not maintained. The rope, too, was frayed in many places, making it look as though it would barely hold a pebble, much less a living creature crossing on it. The origin of the bridge appeared to be somewhere on dry land, and the supports holding that end of it were held up with piles of rocks. The bridge meandered in curves deeper into the swamp, but before either could make out where it led to, the bright light faded, leaving Daisuke, Takeru, and their partners staring in confusion.
***
Hikari landed with some disappointment on the ground once more. As soon as she had dismounted, Nefertimon reverted back to Tailmon, visibly tired. "Remind me not to skip meals anymore," she sighed.
"Sorry," Hikari apologized, frowning. "Didn't even see anything. Looks like the trail is cold."
Iori emerged, Armadimon trailing behind him. "I don't know what was throwing the rocks, but it's gone now, I think," he reported. "At any rate, we're all too tired for a long battle."
"Sorry," Armadimon apologized, looking sheepish.
"It's not your fault," Hikari assured both Armadimon and Tailmon. "None of us have eaten in some time."
Miyako appeared from the trees a short distance away. "I don't see any footprints," she stated. "I do, however, see a few strange markings that might have been made by the…creatures that were following them. There's also something else…."
"Magic?" Iori asked.
"No," Hawkmon answered. "A dead tree."
"A dead tree?" Tailmon echoed skeptically. "Forgive me if I'm not shivering with fear."
"Not an ordinary dead tree," Miyako corrected gently. "A wilted tree."
"Wilted?" Hikari asked. "What do you mean? The leaves were wilted?"
"No, the whole tree was wilted," Hawkmon replied. "Bent over like a flower deprived of water."
***
"That light…," Daisuke began. "Was it…?"
"An evolution," Takeru answered. "Had to be."
"But who? And where? And how?"
"Close by, that's for sure."
"But how?"
Takeru shrugged. "I suppose it's possible that someone might have followed us," he admitted.
Daisuke frowned, sighing. "We have been gone a while, haven't we?"
"Yes."
"And so they got worried…."
"And came after us."
"I wonder what caused the evolution?"
"Maybe they encountered the same creatures we did?"
"That's a possibility. Should we go back for them?"
"Um…," Patamon interrupted from his perch on Takeru's head. After de-evolution, he had been too tired to even follow behind them from the air, so he'd resorted to his usual resting place atop his partner, which allowed him to rest and allowed Takeru to keep his arms free (and his head warm). He pointed behind Takeru.
In unison, Takeru and Daisuke both turned in the direction Patamon pointed. A few rocks splashed into the water near their feet. In the distance, just beyond the limits of visibility, a few dark shadows could be seen.
"Looks like we haven't lost them!" Takeru gasped. "What now?"
"Head for the bridge!" Daisuke responded, thinking of the first thing that came to his mind. He took off at a run in the direction where he'd last seen the bridge, before the light of the evolution had faded and the dark night had swallowed it again.
***
Without the threat of danger behind them and with some amount of exhaustion already beginning to take hold, Miyako, Hikari, Iori, and their partners followed the trail through the swamp at a much more leisurely pace. The warm night was beginning to lighten slightly, but the sun's rising was still some time away, and the air was cold and damp. Hikari shivered slightly under her mud and water soaked dress and tried to keep her eyes open even though exhaustion was fast approaching them all. As they walked on they listened carefully for sounds of someone up ahead.
"Daisuke! Takeru?" Miyako called, but there was no answer. "I thought for certain we'd be closer to them by now."
"Unless they're still running from whatever made that tree wilt," Iori answered. They spoke softly, voices barely whispers so they could listen constantly for a sound.
Suddenly, Hikari paused in her walking, listening intently. "I thought I heard a splash."
The others stopped and were silent for a moment. Tailmon shook her head. "I didn't hear anything," the keen-eared feline informed her partner.
"I heard something, I know I did."
"Are you sure it wasn't just – ," Miyako began, but before she could continue there was a loud crunching sound.
***
Takeru peered down nervously at the board that had just broken under his foot. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" he asked, voice wavering.
Daisuke was a few steps ahead of him on the bridge. "We don't really have another choice, do we?" he returned. "Unless you want to get hit by super stinky breath?"
"Not particularly," the other responded. "But I also don't really want to follow a bridge when I don't have any clue where it leads."
"I know where it leads," Patamon spoke up.
"Where?" V-mon questioned skeptically.
"Away from the shore and across the lake."
"Lake? What lake?"
"The lake we're standing above."
Takeru looked down through gap in the bridge. He could barely see in the dim light. A breeze blew through his hair and the clouds overhead shifted. The moonlight broke free in the sky and bathed the area in a soft glow. Below, he could see the water, a farther distance down than he had originally thought. For a moment, he felt dizzy with the height. He turned and looked back across the bridge, the shore nearly invisible in the mist. He looked forward, past Daisuke and towards the other end of the bridge, but could see nothing through the thick mist. Below the bridge, all around them, was water.
"Where…is this?" he wondered.
"Are you coming or not?" Daisuke called from ahead of him, impatient. He'd continued walking and was now even further away from Takeru than before.
"Daisuke! Wait!" Takeru cautioned, but the other didn't pause.
"I think I can see the end," he reported instead. "It looks like some sort of stone building."
***
Miyako could feel beads of sweat forming on her forehead as she ran through the swamp. The water splashed at her feet, drenching her ankles. The damp, humid, warm air, made her feel light headed. She could flashes of magic coming from the trees and a dim darkness that surrounded the area. The moon had emerged, but the darkness of the magic that filled the area had not diminished. Miyako tried to focus on Hikari and Iori running ahead of her and to follow them. Seeing was difficult in the dark.
Hikari and Iori both came abruptly to a stop and Miyako was glad to finally stop running. She breathed heavily for a few moments, trying to catch her breath, before she looked up to try to determine why they had stopped.
They'd emerged into a clearing, soft but still solid ground beneath their feet. Iori and Armadimon were carefully examining something on the ground that Miyako could not see clearly. Iori's torch had gone out sometime during the running, so the only light was from the sky. Hikari had noted two wooden poles sticking out from the ground at the water's edge and was trying to determine in the dim light what they were for. Miyako wished vainly she'd brought a magic book or a spell to make light.
"These definitely are footprints," Iori reported. "Most likely they belong to Takeru and Daisuke. They also seem to lead in that direction…." He gestured toward the water.
"I don't understand," Hawkmon answered with a thoughtful but still confused expression. "Did they go for a swim?"
"Could these poles be connected to a bridge?" Hikari wondered. She felt the ropes which were tied to the poles. "If so then they went on the bridge."
"But how'd they even know it was there?" Tailmon asked. "We nearly ran right past it in the dark. And where does it lead?"
"If only my torch hadn't gone out," Iori sighed, waving the now useless stick in his hand. "I wish I had some tinder to make more fire. I don't think there's any suitable rocks around here."
"And if there were, we wouldn't see them to find them anyway," Armadimon added.
"Fire," Miyako echoed, frowning in thought. "I think I can remember fire."
"Are you sure you have the strength for magic right now?" Hawkmon questioned doubtfully.
"I think so," she answered. "I'm hungry, but not too weak. I think I can manage the spell for fire, if I can remember it. I'll need some fresh, dry wood."
***
Daisuke cautiously set his foot on the stone beneath the bridge. Then, he brought his other foot along to meet it. He waited a moment. Nothing happened. He took a step forward, and concluded happily that the stone was safe to stand on. He turned and waved toward Takeru.
A breeze blew through the air, shifting the clouds again and dousing the dim light completely. Takeru hesitated. He felt for the next board in the bridge, and then for the stones beneath his feet. When he had finally escaped the bridge, he felt so exhausted that he sank down to a sitting position, relieved to have dry land.
The other moved off a few steps, examining the rest the of the brick-stone area. Two steps from the end of the bridge was a wall. Two steps to the right was the edge of a doorway which was three steps wide. There was no door in the doorway. Beyond the threshold was darkness.
"What is this place?" Daisuke wondered, his voice an awed whisper. V-mon shook his head, uncertain.
Takeru braced himself against the stone wall and pulled himself to his feet. "Let's hope it's friendly, whatever it is."
"Friendly greetings in enemy territory," Patamon sighed. "Not likely."
"We don't even know where we are," V-mon pointed out. "It could be that this isn't enemy territory any longer."
"Then whose is it?"
***
Iori had some difficulty finding dry wood so near to the swamplands, but he succeeded in finding a few small twigs and several larger branches that could serve as torches. At Miyako's instructions, he assembled the twigs into a pile and stood back.
Miyako tried to remember what she had done the first time she had performed the fire spell. Koushiro had showed her the book and told her the meanings of the hand movements required. She shut her eyes and felt her own magic, basking in the awareness of her own aura for a short time. She was hungry and tired, but her magical strength was still fairly strong. She felt the strength of her magic restoring some of her slightly diminished physical strength, and then she focused.
A small spark appeared on the twigs, then another, and then there was a blazing fire of a large size. The others jumped back slightly in surprise at the intensity of the fire and then dipped the branches into the blaze until they too were burning brightly. Without opening her eyes, for she could sense the fire without it, Miyako extinguished the fire and took the third torch from Iori.
"Someone besides me had best go first," she said then, turning toward the bridge. "There's dark magic here and it clouds my vision so much that this torch isn't any good."
"I'll go first," Iori offered. "You ought to go last in case anything follows us. Ready?"
Both girls nodded in agreement. He stepped forward on to the first wooden step and Armadimon stepped cautiously behind him. "Seems sturdy enough," he reported. "Wait a few steps, and then follow."
Hikari watched as Iori took three cautious, slow steps on to the bridge and made his way slowly forward along the bridge. Tailmon climbed on to her shoulders and clung tightly to her back. She was not afraid of falling, but she wasn't friendly with water, and that was what the bridge crossed over.
Miyako waited until Hikari was another three steps into the bridge and then followed. Hawkmon flapped cautiously behind her, keeping one eye behind him on the lookout for danger.
***
"So now what?" V-mon asked. "Are we stuck here?"
"Of course not," his partner responded. "We can cross back across the bridge."
"And back into what I think is pretty definitely enemy territory," Takeru added.
"If we'd eaten, I could fly back across," Patamon sighed. He rested on his partner's head, ears flopped down at his sides the way they always did when he was exhausted. "Do you think there might be food inside?"
"I'd guess it's possible," Takeru admitted. "But I don't think it's wise for us to go in there. It's also possible a monster could be in there."
"Shall we wait to see what causes those lights then?" Daisuke pointed across the bridge.
Takeru hesitated. "Maybe they're friendly?"
"Maybe your monster inside is friendly." He gestured toward the open doorway. Takeru turned, saw the doorway, and shivered, feeling suddenly cold. A warm breeze blew across the water. The clouds shifted, but the lighting didn't improve.
They stood at the edge of the bridge, staring and squinting into the darkness, trying to determine exactly what was coming toward them.
"Perhaps we ought to shout?" V-mon asked.
"Shout?" Patamon echoed.
"Yes. Shout hello."
"What if they're not friendly?"
"Well, then they'll shout back something nasty. Or they'll ignore the shout."
"What if they just can't hear us and that's why they don't shout back?"
"Let's find out," Daisuke suggested. He cupped a hand around his mouth, took a deep breath, and shouted out: "Hello? Who's there?"
The lights stopped moving for a moment, as though hesitating what to do. V-mon was encouraged. "See? Scared them off."
Another shout came back a second later, but the distance made the words indistinguishable. After a moment of hesitation, the lights resumed coming closer, ever slowly. A breeze blew again across the water and the clouds let in more of the moonlight. Shadowy shapes became visible moving across the bridge. They looked like human shapes carrying torches, which explained the lights.
"You don't think they followed us, do you?" Takeru questioned in disbelief. "All the way here?"
"Why not? It's possible," Daisuke answered. He frowned in thought and peered out over the bridge. Takeru skeptically folded his arms and squinted in the darkness.
"Hello?" a voice called across the bridge.
"Hello!" Daisuke responded before Takeru could discourage him. "Hikari? Miyako? Iori?"
There was another shout, but it was again garbled, though this time not because of the distance. A loud splash sounded in the water behind the stone building, causing a large wave that washed up on to the makeshift island, soaking the two boys and their partners taking shelter there.
"What was that?" Takeru demanded, half frightened, half spurred to action.
"Something very big," Patamon answered, trying to shake the water out of his ears.
"And probably not very friendly," V-mon added.
There was a shout of exclamation from somewhere on the bridge. All four turned to see a large but indeterminate something crash into the water and another, equally large wave to wash over the figures on the bridge. Miraculously, the torches were not extinguished, but the figures moved back and forth as though distressed and shaken. Frantic shouts could be heard on the stone island, filled with disconnected words and phrases like "What was - ?" and "Not Safe!".
"We've got to do something," Daisuke declared with some urgency. "They'll be washed into the lake!"
"What should we do?" Takeru asked, skepticism gone. He'd recognized those voices, even if he hadn't heard the words.
"Go after them!" Daisuke answered simply, jumping on to the bridge and bounding away, V-mon behind him a moment later. He was several steps on to the bridge before Takeru could react.
"Are you crazy?" he demanded, aware that he was probably not going to be heard or listened to. He'd learned a long time ago that this was simply what Daisuke did and there was no stopping him. In this instance, however, he felt an overwhelming urgency. In this instance, all of them could easily be killed by whatever was in the lake.
"I'm not standing here waiting for them to die!" Daisuke called back, easily ten more steps across the bridge before the sentence was complete.
Before Takeru could respond further or decide to follow, another large splash created an even larger wave, this time so great that he was knocked off his feet and on to the ground. He grabbed Patamon in his arms as the water washed over them and shut his eyes and mouth so as not to swallow any of it. He slid on the ground backwards into the stone building and the dimly light night disappeared, giving way to the complete darkness within the building.
Daisuke was also knocked off his feet. He sat down hard on the bridge and instinctively grabbed the worn out ropes of the bridge with his hands. V-mon gripped tightly to his shirt and Daisuke tried frantically to keep hold of both the bridge and his partner. They slid along the slick, water-soaked wood to the edge of the bridge. The wave abated, Daisuke took a deep breath, and discovered that he was holding onto both his partner and the bridge with only a shaky grip.
Below him was the dark, grimy, cold (and probably deep) water and a fairly large sea monster.
Above him was a thin and fragile bridge which barely supported his weight.
***
Takeru opened his eyes in to find himself in complete darkness. He opened his mouth and found that it was not water that surrounded him, but air, and so determined that it was safe for him to breathe. Doing so brought him some relief, but not much. "Patamon?" he asked.
"I'm here, Takeru," his partner answered, still resting safely in his arms. "Wherever here is…."
"I think we were knocked into the dark building," Takeru answered. He pulled himself to his feet but could see nothing. The darkness within the building was so thick that he couldn't even make out the doorway to the exit. "I don't know how to get out of here, though…."
Patamon was silent for a moment. "Maybe there's food," he thought wistfully.
"If there is, I don't know where. I can't see anything. Can you?"
"Nothing. Maybe if you found a wall, you could follow the wall to the exit."
This seemed a reasonable suggestion. Takeru lifted Patamon up so his partner could rest on his head and then put both arms in front of him and took a few steps forward, trying to feel his way in the darkness for a wall. "I hope you know I feel like a fool doing this," he told his partner. "I could walk around in circles trying to find something to bump into – Ow!"
"Found something, did you?" Patamon's voice had a tinge of humor in it. He was trying not to laugh.
***
Yeah, yeah. Chapter out before school starts. Sure, sure. It's now mid October…that's not too bad, is it?
I promise there won't be as much of a wait next time. I said that last time, didn't I? Oh well.
Stay tuned! Thanks for reading/reviewing! ^_^