The
Ivani Chronicles : Book 1- Evacuation : Chapter 4- Honest
Questions
A piercing scream broke through the woods, alerting
hundreds of creatures in the forest of danger and sending them
scampering around wildly.
The next few minutes passed in a
blur to Ivan. First, the large robotic fiend went up in flames from
the spell Maddie cast. The robot's imitation pine needles acted as
kindling to the flame. The monster flailed about, and just happened
to get lucky, swinging one of its heavy branch-arms straight into
Maddie. The offending limb smashed into her side. Maddie was flung
several feet back before slamming into the ground and rolling to a
halt. She made no movement, jolting Ivan's heart with a sudden
forceful surge of emotion.
The mechanical giant fell shortly
afterwards, largely due to the damage from the fire. In an instant,
Ivani had flown over to Maddie's still form, followed by Houndramon.
Filmaramon, after dislodging herself from the tree, also moved
quickly to Maddie's side. The rest were shocked into silence and
paralysis. Ivani disengaged, leaving Ivan next to the one other
person in the world that he'd bonded with. Collapsing to his knees,
He carefully rolled Maddie onto her back. The sight was gruesome.
Doing his best to endure the sight, he scanned the girl's body for
injuries.
Maddie's left hipbone was fractured in multiple
places. Her body had many cuts and bruises, mostly due to her getting
tossed across the rough earth. She was slowly losing blood, which
caused the grass beneath her to stain red and become matted. However,
Ivan could feel a faint pulse on her wrist and, when he put his cheek
next to her mouth, he was able to detect a silent, shallow breath.
Maddie was still alive, but without help, she would soon leave her
body for good. As if mirroring the urgency of help, the amulet around
her neck pulsed with its red light urgently and insistently. The
resulting light emitted was barely visible.
Ivan was lost.
He'd always been relaxed and focused when someone was hurt, knowing
that Maddie would be there to help. Now, it was Maddie that was hurt,
and this was one of the worst injuries he'd had the misfortune to
witness. There were no paramedics to help here. Maddie, too, was
unable to help.
A knot appeared in his stomach as he watched
his dying friend helplessly. He felt like lying down and dying there
with her, for without her, his purpose for living was all but
nothing. The Digital World, the other dragoons, TK and Kari – none
of them mattered to him now. His whole focus was on Maddie, although
he had no idea of how to help her.
Staring blankly at Maddie's
still form, Ivan's mind began to wander against his will. Everyone
important seemed to be taken from him: his parents, his friends, and
now the only other person he had cared about in his life. Unable to
stop them any longer, Ivan let his tears come silently, splashing
down his face onto the reddened grass. He looked away from Maddie,
unwilling to let her or anyone else see him this way.
Filmaramon
looked on in terror and dismay. She had spent years with Maddie, but
she never thought of such serious injury coming to her. Now the
impossible had occurred. Having no medical experience, she had no
idea on how to help her. Transformations ran through her mind, but
they became progressively less useful. Stuck in a mire of
helplessness and guilt, Filmaramon could do nothing but watch and
hope. She slowly sank into a dreary puddle on the grass, sulking in
her transmuted pit of despair.
Houndramon, seeing his friends
in such horrible states of uselessness, decided to take charge. He
may not have had such a close connection to Maddie as the other two,
but he'd be damned if he didn't do everything he could to save her.
He knew that she would have done the same for him.
"All
right, enough weeping you two," Houndramon barked sharply at
Ivan and Filmaramon. "We're going to save her if it's the least
thing we do, so get up and get moving. The only way to get out of
your ruts is to do something!"
Motivational words
were rare from Houndramon and they had exactly the effect he wanted.
Thrown from their dismay, Ivan and Filmaramon looked at Houndramon
with surprised faces. Realizing the truth in his words, Ivan rose and
Filmaramon again ran through possible transformations. "Ivan,
get those other four to do something helpful, like find a camping
spot," Houndramon ordered to the human. Ivan dashed off in the
direction of the other members of the group as Houndramon rounded on
Filmaramon. "Filmaramon, try a stretcher." Filmaramon had
just realized the idea as Houndramon spoke, and was transformed in an
instant.
A moment later, TK and Ivan ran back together. "Kari
and the other digimon are going to find a camp site," Ivan said
breathlessly to the dog-digimon. TK looked away from the sight of
Maddie. The girl he'd once thought of as a beautiful, kind person,
now lay helplessly on the ground, taking in what would be her last
breaths if something were not done immediately. After taking a moment
to steel himself against the horrible sight, He went to Ivan's
aid.
Noticing the stretcher, they quickly moved to opposite
ends of Maddie. With extreme care to not jostle the girl, the two
boys delicately placed her on the stretcher. Houndramon barked once
at seeing progress and led the two boys, rolling the stretcher as
smoothly as possible across the bumpy ground, towards where Kari was
hailing them. They were led around the large heap of robotic scrap
metal. Ivan resisted the urge to reduce it to bits with his blade for
causing so much pain to his friend. Instead, he tried to move faster
towards their new camping site.
Kari had the same reaction as
TK on seeing Maddie's condition. Looking away, she tried not to show
too much of her fear for the other girl's life. It was apparent that
spirits were already low. She didn't want to hinder the already
failing morale. She, too, forced herself to endure the sight and
turned around slowly. Keeping her gaze upwards, she found that it
would not be too difficult to talk to the others face-to-face.
"What
are we going to do?" Kari asked, wording the thoughts of the
others. Houndramon was, once again, the first to speak.
"Stay
here," He said, turning away. "I have an idea. Won't take a
moment." With his last words, he dashed off in the direction
they came from.
"Great, now we're short a person,"
Ivan said, subdued. "Well, I guess we have to start somewhere.
The question is, where?"
"Well, what's damaged,
exactly?" TK asked, thinking of how to best care for someone in
such dire injury. He could only hope that the dangers of the forest
didn't get worse while they were working.
"I can feel
that her left hip is broken, but it looks like she only has numerous
cuts and bruises beyond that," Ivan informed the other two,
again lightly running his fingers over Maddie's damaged side. "She's
lost a lot of blood already, though, and I think that stopping the
loss is where we should start."
"Couldn't agree
more," a growling voice said at Ivan's feet. Looking down, he
saw Houndramon with the large black duffel bag. Ivan had forgotten
that it was left back where they had first spied the demon tree. "I
thought this could help. Some of the rags and clothes in here could
act as temporary bandages."
"Always thinking,"
Ivan said gratefully to Houndramon as he leaned over to get supplies
from the bag. Thoughts came to him clearly once again, no longer
concealed by the fog of despair. His courage and hope returning, he
resumed his role as commander. He issued out orders to the rest of
the group. "Gatomon, Patamon, take these and fill them with
water," he called, tossing two buckets from the bag to them.
They took off immediately, glad to finally be of use. "TK, you
and Kari get a fire started. Collect a large amount of kindling from
the dead pine needles on the ground and get a bunch of larger sticks
and branches from over there," he indicated a tree that had died
some time ago, lying a dozen yards to their right. "Take these,"
he added, handing TK a serrated blade and a lighter. "Use the
knife to get any good branches still attached to the tree, and that
lighter should be sufficient to ignite the kindling." Having
finished his order to them, he waved his hand dismissively and the
two ran off towards the downed tree. "Houndramon, I'm going to
need some help with this; I need you to shred these rags here into
smaller strips that will be easier to apply in tight places, such as
between her fingers." Houndramon set off in earnest, carefully
separating the rags with a single claw. He had soon compiled a few
dozen long, thin strips of the absorbent cloth in front of him.
Ivan
now faced a dilemma. Many of the rocks that Maddie had hit in her
roll had ripped her shirt as well as her skin. He knew that to
properly treat the cuts, he would have to remove her shirt, but he
had a deep feeling of guilt at doing so. Maddie was, after all,
female, no matter how much she tried to be tough and masculine.
Hoping that she would forgive him, Ivan pulled the hem of her shirt
up over her head. He then disentangled her arms from the bloody
fabric. He hoped that the pulse of red light was meant as a forgiving
signal for his actions. Thankful for Maddie's undergarments, he
discarded the torn shirt and stared down at the proud dog that held a
strip of cloth in his mouth for Ivan to use.
Gatomon and
Patamon slowly returned, greatly weighed down by the large buckets of
water they carried. A fire sprang to life a few feet away. The light
cast flickering shadows across the faces of the two proud creators.
Ivan told the digimon to place the buckets over the fire to sterilize
it. He then moved the stretcher-digimon carrying Maddie over to the
fire, lowering the bed portion down until it was resting directly on
top of the wheels.
TK had to once again look away, this time
not for fear, but out of embarrassment. He contented himself by
watching the water with great interest. Kari, too, was surprised. She
however was not to be deterred by such things, being of the same
gender as Maddie. She took a full rag from the duffel bag, submersed
it in the water, and then handed it to Ivan to clean the blood from
Maddie's body.
After cleaning her body, Maddie looked very
much like she had that morning. The blood, it seemed, had made the
injuries look much more serious than they were. Next, Ivan took some
of the strips from Houndramon, sterilized them in the heated water,
and then gingerly wrapped them around any significant cuts Maddie had
suffered.
A few moments later, Maddie was efficiently
bandaged. Ivan retrieved a new, white shirt from the duffel bag and
raised Maddie up, sliding the shirt over her head. Once again fully
clothed, she now only held the broken hipbone as a substantial danger
to her life. This wound, unlike those that the Digidestined had
suffered, was not open. Instead, it was an internal fracture and Ivan
could not reach it to set it without cutting Maddie open on her side,
something he surely did not want to do. He also knew that blood
vessels would certainly have been opened at the place of impact;
although they couldn't see it, Maddie was still losing blood.
Pressing his hand against the girl's hip, Ivan could feel the tissue
swelling in comparison to her other side, confirming his suspicion.
Fear and despair slowly crept back over his mind as he tried to fight
it off and come up with a solution before time ran out.
Maddie's
amulet was still pulsing weakly, although it was somewhat stronger
than it had been an hour ago. This pulse, as well as that given from
his own amulet, was all that held back the approaching fog in his
mind – beacons of safety. His amulet was giving off great light by
now, for it always gained strength when he acted on the behalf of
others. The warmth and light of his amulet aroused an idea in Ivan's
head.
Now sitting beside the stretcher, he drifted into
thought. Only half thinking about it, the boy reached up and took a
hold of Maddie's limp hand in his. In what appeared to be a valiant
effort, Ivan's amulet gave an intense burst of light. Instantly, the
fog and fear was thrown from his mind. The key to initiating his plan
was clear to him. Grasping Maddie's hand firmly with both of his own,
he recited a long phrase in a language none present could understand.
Ivan himself only knew the statement because of Azulongmon: it was
his verse. It sounded like this:
"Rani qui Japa, wran ti
Wainte onve fua.
Ti scaulpe heirwal grux gi fua, loj fuan wal I wentram luar.
I duentu fuan quintamia ro ti roct ol jqu baalamia.
Rani
qui Japa, wran ti Wainte onve fua."
When the first words
left Ivan's mouth, his hands began to glow with a faint green light.
As the second line was recited, the light's intensity and size
increased, now swirling up and around his arms in a snakelike
pattern. The third line passed his lips and the light was strong
enough to make the others present look away. Houndramon alone caught
on to what was happening as the last words came, but he was too late
to stop his friend. He could tell the sacrifice was coming, but was
unable to stop it.
The light around Ivan, now completely
engulfing him, seemed to rise from his body and flow into Maddie
through the connection at their hands. Maddie's body surged, moving
violently on the stretcher as the green energy entered her. With
unnatural speed, Maddie's cuts were closed and her bruises faded.
Soon, she was void of external damage and her amulet glowed brightly
around her neck. Ivan, however, slumped to the ground, eyes closed.
His amulet gave off one final faint pulse of white light before going
completely dead.
Houndramon ceased after a few moments, and once again cast his head downward, watching his immobile friend lie in the grass, still holding Maddie's hand. The past events were still embedded clearly in the dog's mind, and he was unable to think straight anymore. The sacrifice Ivan had made for Maddie was not the first time he had done so, but the magnitude was far greater this time. But even this was not enough to fully restore Maddie, the boost of energy only lasting a short time. Now, both lay quietly, neither having enough life force to sustain him nor her. The only evidence that they were still clinging to life came from their shallow breathing and the periodic faint glow and fade of the amulets about their necks.
Filmaramon had since transformed into her natural state, slowly putting Maddie to rest on the soft pine needles covering the ground. She fell asleep next to the fire, exhausted from sustaining the weight of Maddie for so long. Her fears were great, but she sensed that Maddie was better and was soon able to drift into an uneasy sleep.
The others, however exhausted they were, found that they were needed to save their guardians. "As Mimi once said," Kari quoted, kneeling between the two, "'our parents have always been there for us. Now it's our turn to come through for them.' They may not be our parents, but we still owe it to them to at least try and save them."
"There's got to be something we can do," TK added as he followed Kari to the two prone figures. "Houndramon, help us. You're the veteran here; what can we do to save them?"
"I've been asking myself the same question," the digimon answered, looking up. "Besides making the same sacrifices, there is nothing that comes to mind. Reviving someone is very difficult, and something that we have never been subjected to. But I agree; there must be an answer somewhere. The question is, can we find it in time?"
"We'll never know if we sit here talking," Kari groaned impatiently. "Come on, people, and let's think of something. Let's start with what exactly happened. What did Ivan do, Houndramon?"
"Well, I only know so much, but I'll tell you everything I can," Houndramon assured her, again gazing at the two unconscious bodies beside him. "The Digital Language holds many secrets, most of which are lost to us nowadays. One of the few still known, however, is a magical energy transfer. Reciting those phrases in the proper order gives one the power to lend his or her life force to another. Any excess life force in the body of a human will rapidly increase the healing rate of any damage caused to that human. Once healed, this energy is released since a human body can only hold so much energy.
"In this instance, Ivan channeled his energy to Maddie. Maddie's cuts and bruises mended and her hip was repaired. All that was transferred, it appears, was still not enough to give her consciousness again.
"The one factor Ivan did not seem to care about," Houndramon continued, "was that one who sends, thus losing, most of his life force will die without a replenishing source. Life force does slowly regenerate, as does one's liver, but the amount transferred here was so much that it will take too long to recover before the body gives out.
"Therefore, we now have to find a proper source of life force and give it to them. This would bring them back to life, but such a source I know not where to find.
"Other
than another living being, I am at a loss as for where it can be
found," Houndramon concluded, looking once again at the two in
other realms. Maddie's amulet was now faltering, pulsing irregularly
and slowly dimming. Houndramon blinked, staring at the light. "She
must have slipped into a coma from the incident," the dog
reasoned, "or perhaps it's a brain hemorrhage that Ivan's life
force couldn't fix." Houndramon's head drooped as the light
faded before him.
Houndramon noticed something else with his
next scan, however; something that fully renewed his hope and
happiness. "Of course!' He exclaimed, hopping over the bodies
and prodding his nose at Maddie's small red bag attached to her belt.
"TK, give me a hand, here. I found some life force!"
Still
not fully understanding, TK slowly moved around the two people on the
ground and opened the small pouch for Houndramon. The canine digimon
quickly thrust his head inwards. A few loud sniffs echoed out
Houndramon eagerly searched inside the deceptively large bag. His
head emerged a moment later, a tiny bottle in his teeth. Within the
bottle there was more of the same glowing energy that the three had
witnessed flow from Ivan to Maddie.
"Life force," TK
and Kari said in awe, watching the green smoke slowly flow around
within the glass.
Placing the bottle on the ground, Houndramon
spoke, "Why did Maddie have to be the one to get hurt? She would
have told us to get this; she always keeps things like this with her.
We're lucky it didn't break when she hit the ground."
Nodding
solemnly, TK lifted the small jar with extreme care and inspected the
contents. The glass did have a few cracks, one of which was quite
large. Still, there were no missing pieces. It was indeed a miracle
that the glass was still in one piece. "Where'd she get it?"
He asked, mesmerized by the green essence.
"It may be her
own, or she may have extracted it from another source,"
Houndramon said contemplatively. Then, with more urgency he
continued, "But if you would like to know the truth, we should
awaken Maddie."
"Right," Kari said, taking the
bottle from TK.
"Be careful, now; hold it just above her
heart," Houndramon instructed cautiously. "Right, there you
go. Okay, now pull the cap out when I tell you. The vapor will flow
into her, but you must stop it before too much is gone, or we won't
have enough to be able to save Ivan. About one third of it will do;
it's very potent stuff. Give it a slight tilt, and it will move
slowly down. When you're ready, open it."
Kari,
incredibly nervous, tried to open the tiny bottle. The cork, however,
was not keen on coming out with such a shaky pull. She looked
helplessly at Houndramon, and then felt a hand on her shoulder.
Turning further, she saw TK smiling gently at her, the kind of smile
that made her heart ache. "We'll do it together," He said
softly, taking Kari's hands in his. She couldn't help but return the
smile. Her confidence returned, she and TK, his arms around her,
opened the bottle and carefully poured the green smoky substance onto
Maddie's prone form. The green vapor settled on Maddie's chest,
slowly seeping through her clothes and her skin. Her eyes fluttered
open a moment later, staring up at the elated faces of TK and Kari.
"Hey, guys," she said weakly, straining to make a
smile.
"Welcome back, Maddie," Houndramon and the
children said in unison. Houndramon went on, "I'm glad to see
your eyes open again, you gave us a deathly scare with your little
stunt. Nonetheless, you did manage to take down that gargantuan
machine." Maddie again strained to smile, having so little
strength of her own. "Rest now, Maddie. You're still weak and
your life force has yet to be fully replenished. These surges only
act temporarily. I just wish we could have thought of your store of
it before Ivan did what he did." Houndramon's last words raised
an alarm in Maddie's head.
"What did he do?" Maddie
asked, sensing something horrible had happened while she was out.
Houndramon glanced at Maddie's left hand. Maddie followed his gaze
and found not only what had been holding her hand, but what had
happened to her friend as well. "Oh no," she breathed,
staring at Ivan's still form in horror. "He's not dead, right?"
She asked Houndramon quickly, hoping she had guessed wrongly.
"No,
I don't think so. Not yet at least. He channeled a large amount of
his life force into you to heal your hip. Surgery on such a position
is incredibly hard, as one can imagine. Ivan, forgetting that you
carry many powerful medical supplies, chose to turn himself into a
healing salve." Houndramon's attempt at reassuring words did
little to calm Maddie. Her fears from the past once again came, but
at the moment she was far from being able to accomplish anything but
sleep. Her body was far to tired to do otherwise. "Sleep now,
Maddie. We still have enough life force to bring Ivan back so do not
fear for him. Sleep; we cannot hope to be safe here tomorrow. Speed
is of the essence."
Heeding these words, Maddie closed
her eyes, trying to sleep. A few moments later, she was lost in her
dreams. All of her dreams since arriving in the Digital World, save a
lucky few, were horrible and frightening. So intense were many of her
nightmares that she felt staying awake for eternity would be better
than sleep. Interestingly enough, she had found that Ivan had a
strange effect on her. Whenever she slept near him, the dreams always
carried hope. Restlessness was displaced by the brown-haired boy.
Now
Ivan was not asleep with her, but unconscious in the presence of
death. The prospect of dreams to come scared her greatly, yet
Houndramon was right. She needed her strength. And so Maddie fell
once again into the realm of those not conscious. The revitalization
of Ivan was brought to hand.
"Okay, one back, one to go,"
Houndramon stated unnecessarily, moving over to Ivan's side. "Here
we need to use a little more, about three fourths of what is in there
should do it. Save what you can since we may need it later in the
journey."
Following Houndramon's instructions, Kari
released all but a tiny wisp of the mysterious vapor onto Ivan's
heart. His eyes opened a few seconds after the gaseous substance
seeped into him. "I-I'm alive?" Ivan asked, astonished. His
eyes looked at the dog beside him, an unmistakable grin on the
digimon's face. "I underestimated you, pal." He petted the
dog affectionately on the head as he spoke. "Much more
resourceful than I could imagine. Thank you."
"We'd
never leave you for dead; we'd die in this forest without your help.
Just promise you won't ever do something stupid like that again,
please." Houndramon's pleas were met with a nod.
"Alright,
I promise," Ivan stated in confirmation, "But I don't know
how strong the fidelity of that promise is. We all do stupid things
without thinking first, especially when put under great pressure.
Take the life of your best friend, for instance. You know that well
enough. Anyways, did my stupid plan work?"
"More or
less," TK replied as Houndramon, utterly wasted after the long
day, lay down at the side of his companion. "She got all healed
up, but was still unconscious. A little more from this bottle did the
rest."
"Her bottle! Of course! That truly was
stupid; what was I thinking?" Ivan mentally chastised
himself.
"You probably weren't thinking," Kari
answered him, moving back over to the fire, which had lost little of
its strength, being restocked periodically by Gatomon, Patamon, TK,
and Kari. "Don't worry, though. She's safe now, as are you. I
think that Houndramon has the idea, sleep!"
"Amen!"
those still conscious chorused. With the light of the sun gone,
everyone got comfortable in the soft nettles and fell from
consciousness into their dreams. Moments later, all that remained
awake were the pair of faithful amulets, now pulsing brightly in
unison, their owners alive and connected in their dream world. A
smile came upon Maddie's slumbering face as Ivan suddenly appeared in
her despairing dream, bringing her hope and courage to carry on in
her plight.
However, two eyes were open, watching, and had
been watching for what seemed like hours to the owner of the eyes. As
the final member of the corps fell into sleep, the owner of the eyes
dared to move, darting out of its hiding place and back to its
master, ready to give a full report on all that had transpired since
the group came to a halt in their journey.
Maddie came abruptly from her dream, sweating and eyes wide. Her dream had been normal, or as normal as they were for her, when all positive influence suddenly vanished from it. Her dreams always made her uneasy, showing possible futures and events that left her horrified and sick. However, an unexplained sense of hope always erupted in her dreams whenever Ivan was sleeping in close proximity. She longed for an answer as to why this occurred, but none came.
She did, however, do her best to sleep close to Ivan when she had the chance. Ivan became suspicious after a week of her unusual behavior. His coming out directly with a question was unusual, but he had done so on this occasion. Taking her aside from the other dragoons twenty-six months ago, as Maddie remembered, Ivan had asked her to explain why she always insisted on sleeping next to him. He was not angry, but concerned. She explained some of her predicament to him and gave him the general reasoning her actions. She held back some information, not wanting him to know everything when she didn't fully understand it herself.
Upon hearing of Maddie's plight, Ivan had immediately tried to help; he didn't want her to suffer. Such was his nature as a guardian. He tried many things to help her, such as taking her to different places, having her sleep at different times and having her talk to Kilvaramon. None of his tests availed to anything, sadly. Regardless of place or time, her nightmares always came and even Kilvaramon's potent medicine failed to disperse them.
Kilvaramon came to the conclusion that the dreams were not by chance, but were conjured by another, outside force. Since hearing this, Ivan had tried to locate the source of the nightmares. He studied the charts of her dreams that the two had compiled, looking for nights or days when her affliction had been particularly vivid. These too spawned nothing, leaving Ivan only the option of staying with Maddie to do whatever he could for her. Maddie was exceedingly grateful for Ivan's sacrifice, but she was not unaware of the effects her dreams had on Ivan.
It had been nearly two years since Ivan had begun his search for what was causing Maddie so much pain. Nothing had been discovered in that time, but Ivan never ceased his attempts to help her. None of the other Dragoons could see how Ivan kept his grueling pace. His commitments were many, much more than the average boy his age could generally withstand. It was true he was no average kid, however, but even someone with exceptional strength and stamina could not have kept up with him. His only explanation was that his determination gave him unbound strength and that his concern provided endless stamina.
But recently, even Ivan's unimaginable energy had started to deteriorate. No one had yet noticed it, except for Maddie. She had seen his slow loss of energy and felt very guilty for it. It was her dreaming that caused his fatigue – her needs. She wished that she could help him, to take his pain away, to-
"Are you okay?" The soft vice broke Maddie's reverie. She looked up into the sapphire-blue eyes belonging to Ivan. She realized that Ivan must have awakened and therefore caused the light in her dream to lapse.
"I'm fine, Ivan," she said quietly, looking around. The rest of the group was sleeping soundly, the fire had since died, and Ivan had moved to her side. His hand was comfortingly on hers. "What's going on? What are you doing awake?" She herself was still very tired, but curiosity kept her somewhat alert.
Ivan sat on the ground beside her before explaining, "I couldn't sleep, and something made me feel that I was needed." She could see his face clearly now, the sleep dissipating from her eyes. The amulets around their necks cast shadows on his face, giving him the look of a child holding a flashlight at his chin. "But it seems that everything is well; no robotic demons waiting to pounce on us. I gave a quick look around. Houndramon's off somewhere, but everyone else is fine." Maddie looked back at the ground where the dog had been. Houndramon was indeed missing.
"Where do you think he went?" Maddie hoped that he had not been taken from them, but rather left under his own free will.
"I wouldn't worry; there was no sound I could hear. Houndramon probably just went to get a drink, or to get a little exploration done. In fact, I'll bet he caught the trail of one of his digital bones." The last comment made Maddie laugh. The thought of the sophisticated, intelligent dog succumbing to such a simple desire was enough to bring humor to her tired state.
Regaining her poise after a moment, Maddie asked another question: "Well, if everything is okay, why are you still awake? I could use some sleep." She hesitated before adding, "my dreams."
"I know, I know. I'm sorry for leaving you. I wanted to talk to you alone, though. With the rest of the group around, it's hard to do. Could you wait to sleep a moment? It is really important."
"Sure," she reassured him, rolling over onto her now recovered hip to face him. It was amazing, feeling as though it had never been broken. She had heard a deafening crack a moment before losing consciousness in the battle, alerting her that some bone in her body had been shattered. Now it was as if the large mechanical arm had never hit her. Again, she noted that this was due to Ivan's sacrifice. It was his life force that had given her the healing touch.
"First, I was wondering if your dreams had been gaining any intensity recently." The question was unusual, but when Maddie thought about it, she realized that he was right.
Maddie nodded. "They've been getting a little worse each day for about a week now. How'd you know?"
"Remember, I feel the dreams too," He answered, the amulet around his neck giving a bright pulse to confirm the statement. "Something's coming; something big. And if I'm not mistaken, though I hope I am, it'll come before we return our friends to their world."
"What?"
"I'm not really sure, but the dreams, have they been showing you anything particular? I feel the dreams, but I don't always see what you see in them."
Maddie's brow furrowed as she contemplated what she could remember from her dreams. After she awoke, little but fading images and distressing shadows remained in her mind. Trying to recall specific objects was very difficult. However, one image did seem to remind her of something, someone she knew. She focused on the image until she was sure of whom it was and came to an unnerving realization. Even thinking of the person brought Maddie incredible anxiety – the person that she thought she had escaped.
"It's Jason," She said quietly, her body tingling with a brush of fear at the name.
"How?" Ivan asked, not exactly to anyone, but more as if asking himself for the answer. It was now his turn to fall into thought. He knew not how Jason could be connected to the dreams, but it did make sense. He was the one person who had emotionally scarred Maddie in her young life, aside from her parents. They were now dead, though, jail having taken a horrible toll on both of them.
"I'm scared." Maddie's simple yet powerful words interrupted Ivan's thought process. His attention once again turned to Maddie. "I don't want to see him again. I thought he was gone from my life. He scares me, what he would do to me. And then what he would do to you, Hakin and Susan. I'm scared."
"I know, Madelyn," Ivan said comfortingly, putting his free hand on her shoulder and grasping her hand more tightly in his. "I know what he did, and what he would do if he could. But he never will, Madelyn, he never will. I won't let him. I'll die before I let him lay a finger on you."
Maddie looked at Ivan. He had never spoken like this and rarely used her full name. She looked into his glinting sapphire eyes. So protective, so kind, so loving was his stare that Maddie could almost feel his promise. He always made her feel safe, even in the direst of cases. She smiled inwardly, in spite of her fear, knowing what she felt for him was true.
"Thank you, Ivan," She said quietly, relaxing her head gradually to press against his shoulder. Comfort, love and warmth overwhelmed her as she rested silently against him, never wishing to move again. She knew her wishes were in vain, however, and tried to make the most of her opportunity.
"I did have one other thing I wanted to discuss, Maddie," Ivan said, his right arm rustling gently around her shoulders and his left hand holding hers.
Maddie nodded gently against his shoulder, her eyes serenely closed.
As Ivan continued to speak, Maddie's eyes opened in confusion. He didn't sound normal. After studying what Ivan was saying, she found that he was talking in Spanish. She had taken a class on it in sixth grade, but remembered little and could barely catch the few words she did know as Ivan spoke. It seemed that he, however, knew quite a lot of the language. His tongue swirled around the words, making each syllable flow into the next. His pronunciation was impeccable, even if his vocabulary was not extensive.
"Madalita, tú eres muy cariñosa, amable, graciosa, divertida, atractiva, e inteligente. Tú eres mi luz, mi salud, y mi amor. Amo tú, Madalita, y adoraré tú siempre." With his last words, Ivan lifted Maddie's hand and pressed his lips against it once before releasing it completely.
"When you can understand these words, you will be ready to know what I have said." Maddie was speechless, completely lost as to what the words meant. A few she guessed at: something about caring, gracious, diverted, intelligent, salad, and a siempren, whatever that was. Maddie moaned to herself, cursing the fact that she hadn't opted to engage in Spanish courses in elementary school. Her eyes looked hopefully up at the boy, but he only gave his same gentle and calming smile. Maddie could feel the ache in her chest as she looked at him and averted her eyes quickly. It hurt her greatly to not be able to touch his smile with her own.
Only when he had left did she realize that she was no longer in his arms. She looked around wildly, finally seeing him again asleep near the now doused fire. His duffel bag was acting as a pillow. Maddie's eyes started to water and she turned away from him, trying to control her tears. She didn't want to break down; she was stronger than that. But with the realization that Ivan did not return her love, there was nothing she could do to stop her sobs. She did manage to keep her crying from being heard.
A moment later, a patch of rustling bushes alerted Maddie of someone's presence and she did her best to dry her eyes on the back of her sleeve. Looking over, she saw a large black mass walk to her and sit down next to her.
"Oh,
it's you Houndramon." The beast nodded, his face now illuminated
by the glow of Maddie's ruby pendant. "You didn't o-overhear us,
did you?" Maddie stuttered. She was very self-conscious, not to
mention abashed that someone might have heard the conversation
between herself and Ivan.
"Merely coincidental, Maddie,"
The dog replied, lying down next to the human girl. "I had gone
to get a drink, then heard voices as I returned. Moving carefully as
not to disturb the speakers, in case they were enemies, I came to
that thicket. I found you and Ivan talking. It was quite a momentous
statement he made, you know. It took great courage for him to say
what he did. I was not sure if he would ever use the words I taught
him."
Maddie looked down at the dog intently. "You
taught him how to say that? That he's tired of watching me? That I'm
some sort of diverted salad?" Maddie had to pause at the lack of
coherency in that statement, but her frustration only escalated. "How
does that take any courage? He didn't even say it to me straight; he
tried to say it in a roundabout way to not hurt my feelings."
Maddie could feel the vibrancy of duress in her veins, once again on
the verge of tears. She then felt a paw on her leg.
"Stop,"
The digimon said in a soothing voice, trying to calm his human
companion. "He never said such a thing, and what he said is
true. As he said, when you understand his words, you will be ready to
know their meaning. I assure you that they were in no way speaking
against you, quite the opposite. I just cannot divulge their exact
meaning. That is something that you must learn on your own.
"Now
dry your eyes. I'm sorry that you must suffer like this. I believe
that he should have told you outright. You must remember, though,
that Ivan is instinctively shy. It took a great amount of courage for
him to speak those words, even if they were in another language."
Houndramon again lay down on the soft pine needles, leaving Maddie
with one final statement, "You will find the meaning to those
words soon, and then you will be truly happy."
Maddie
looked down at the dog once again. He truly did keep an impressive
façade during the time he was with others, only showing his
true self to those he deemed worthy. Of those there were only a scant
few. He was incredibly deep, compassionate, and had an amazing amount
of knowledge under his mask. Much more resided in the dog than he let
on. With his joking manner and amusing stunts, one would never guess
what the true Houndramon was really like.
Maddie started to
contemplate Houndramon's words as she adjusted her position for
better sleeping ability. Ivan didn't hate her; that brought a wave of
relief to the girl. It had taken courage for him to say that, so it
must have been something important. And, according to the
dog-digimon, the words would make her truly happy. She couldn't
comprehend what could make her feel any better in her relationship
with the boy. Anything, that is, except to have him love her, rather
than him only hold her as a ward. She was desperate to know; she
needed to know. Maddie tried to recall what Ivan's words had
been.
But it was too late; the weight of sleep overcame her.
Maddie found she was once again lost in her terrible dreams. Only
protection from Ivan gave her any solace, for he still kept his
promise to keep her safe without a second thought.
"Maddie?
Are you going to get up today, or am I going to carry you the rest of
the journey?"
Maddie slowly roused from her dream, one of
the very few that did not cause her pain or terror. Rubbing her eyes
and stifling a yawn, she sat up. Ivan was kneeling beside her, giving
her his famous smile that melted her heart.
"If you
wouldn't mind, being carried sounds nice," she replied in the
same joking manner, returning the smile as well. Whatever Ivan had
said last night, she was almost positive that it was what she had
always wanted to hear. She could only hope and wait until the meaning
of his words came to her. Meanwhile, she planned to show Ivan that
she loved him, even if such emotions were not returned on the same
level.
Offering his hand, Ivan helped Maddie get to her feet.
Standing, Maddie turned to find that the sun was just rising and the
rest of the group was lost in pleasant slumber. Giving Ivan a
quizzical look, she asked, "Why did you get me up so early? Its
barely daylight."
"We're in charge of getting
everything ready to go, aren't we? I thought we should get an early
start. No need to hang around here and wait for trouble to find us.
What should we have for breakfast? I'm not sure what to
make."
Maddie thought for a moment, and came to the
conclusion that diginian waffles with reguevo juice and some syrite
syrup would be fitting. With a nod, Ivan kneeled next to his bag to
retrieve cooking utensils. As he searched and removed various pots,
pans, and all the rest of his cooking equipment, he made sure that
Maddie was not idle.
"I'm going to need some water, and
we need the fire rebuilt. Would you mind gathering some firewood and
water? Houndramon's willing to help, if you'll wake him." Maddie
nodded in response, turning to shake the furry beast awake. "Thanks,"
Ivan called over his shoulder, now placing a large bowl on the most
level patch of ground he could find.
He needed no cookbook,
having memorized dozens of recipes by heart. As he broke Quilronian
eggs on the side of the bowl, releasing the red and green contents
into it, he was reminded of Christmas. It had been long since he had
a formal Christmas, one that he may have had with his family some
five years ago. His eyes clouded over with a mist of
reminiscence.
This recipe always reminded him of those days:
days of his childhood, days that he had once lived, days that he
would never live again. Breaking his own thought, Ivan knew he didn't
need to be reminded of the days of his youth. He wished sorely to be
able to return to them; to be an ordinary kid once again was
infinitely tempting. But such a life was no longer possible. He had
chosen this fate and it was this fate that he had to
fulfill.
Whisking the eggs together with the rest of the wet
ingredients, his thoughts again drifted. This time he thought of the
previous night. He had stunned even himself when he had spoken to the
girl last night. He believed in what he stated with all of his heart,
and although it may have been in another language, to speak those
words to a girl had always been some far off, distant fantasy for
him. It had never been a reality; there had never been a person
worthy. Some time back, he had gained the courage to ask Houndramon
how to say those words; his own Spanish had never been too great.
After all, he had only taken a little over a year of Spanish class.
Houndramon, innately fluent in multiple languages thanks to the
cross-reference of data from the Real World through the Digital
World, had taught Ivan how to speak what he wished.
The reason
for choosing Spanish, he thought, was obvious enough. The fact that
they had both chosen Spanish as their second language in school had
been one of the first things Ivan learned about Maddie. Also, it was
also the only language he knew some of outside of his native
English.
Why his heart had settled on the agile, darling girl
was the harder question. He had never been raised fully by parents,
and therefore knew little of adult relationships. However, he also
knew his heart very well, and relied on it as a guide.
Along
with this, there was his amulet. It had not only taken on the role of
storage vessel, inspirationalist, soul protector, and ward against
evil, but that of a parent as well. It had picked up where his late
father and mother had left him. He owed more than could be known to
his amulet, and it was always there to steer him in the right
direction. He had learned so much through its silent teachings, each
of which was something that a true parent would have been responsible
for. Whether a living essence was within the amulet, or whether it
was some strange magic conjured by Azulongmon, he was not sure. He
only knew to trust in its guidance and to believe in its teachings,
for they had never steered him wrong.
A crackling sound
brought Ivan back to reality, and he looked to see a fire roaring to
life in the ashes of the fire from the day before. Houndramon stood
proudly beside it, watching Ivan as he continued to create the
waffles.
The batter was now mixed, made automatically by
Ivan's independent hands while he had been lost in his thoughts about
the past night. Ivan retrieved a unique metal stand from the duffel
bag, setting it over the fire. This acted as a spontaneous holster
for his griddle over the fire. Placing the larger bottom half of the
griddle that he had previously taken from the bag on the support, he
poured a liberal amount of the thick liquid over the evenly dented
surface. Then taking the other half of the griddle, he slid it onto
the mixture within the base and pressed down until it locked. He was
therefore assured that it was full to capacity and would produce
several fine waffles in a few minutes.
Ivan now set his
attention to the five other sleeping forms, waking each in turn. As
he roused Filmaramon from her slumber, he looked over his shoulder.
Noticing her absence, Ivan was suddenly curious as to where Maddie
was. They were now completely out of water, having used what was left
in the waffle batter, and still she had not returned from her errand.
Leaving TK to awaken Kari, Gatomon and Patamon, Ivan set off in the
direction he had seen Maddie go.
Reaching the water's edge,
Ivan scoured the shore for any sign of Maddie. He called out her name
a few times. Soon, he received a returning call. Running in the
direction of her voice, he found her lying against a tree. Not in any
pain or discomfort, he discerned, but deterred from her journey for
one reason or another.
"Hey, Maddie, what's going on? I
was worried." Ivan knelt down beside her as he spoke, looking at
her intently.
Maddie looked up, smiling. Though she was
uncertain for the abrupt halt herself, she was glad Ivan had found
her. "I'm sorry," She admitted, moving to rise from the
ground. "I just got caught up in my thoughts and I guess I
decided to take a break."
"As long as she's safe,"
Ivan said to himself silently. Grateful for finding her so easily, he
quickly grabbed the buckets and hurried back to the shore. With two
quick swoops, the buckets were filled to the brim. "C'mon, we
should get back. My waffles are going to burn otherwise."
Stifling a laugh with her hand, Maddie nodded, following Ivan back to
the camp.
They returned to a scene similar to the one they had
left. TK was now wide-awake, warming his hands by the fire and
sitting next to Kari. Ivan noticed the subtle hints of affection that
they sent at one another, though they themselves missed them. Gatomon
was still sleeping, obviously having kept firmly asleep even when
told to rise. Patamon was stretching his wings, flying in slow,
leisurely circles around the fire. A bird, a bird that happened to be
Filmaramon, was fluttering beside the pig-digimon. Houndramon watched
the bushes warily, keeping guard as Ivan had tacitly
instructed.
"Breakfast!" Ivan called out upon
reaching the group. Quickly setting down the water near the fire, he
opened the now steaming waffle iron to reveal six over-sized, finely
shaped waffles. Each one was bright red with green berries spread
evenly within them. Quickly removing the waffles from the griddle,
Ivan placed two on each of three plates that he retrieved from the
bag. Taking the remainder of the batter from the bowl, he set the
griddle to produce six more waffles. Next, he grabbed a bottle of
indigo colored liquid from the duffel bag, placing it next to the
plates of waffles. To complete the meal, Ivan withdrew a few black,
lemon-shaped fruits from the bag. Taking what looked like an orange
juicer, he juiced each of the fruits, which turned out to be all but
entirely liquid inside. He collected the fluid in a plastic pitcher.
He placed the pitcher down, along with the rest of the food, with the
flourish of a finishing touch.
"Well, there you go: Two
diginian waffles with reguevo juice and syrite syrup. Enjoy!"
Ivan did his best impression of a master chef as he spoke, again
trying to lighten the spirits of the group. Maddie was the first to
delve into the food, the other two children soon following suit.
The
bright, florescent colors of the food never ceased to amaze the two
younger children. It was astonishing how much they never bothered to
look at before, their attention never having been drawn by what they
took for granted. All of that had changed here. The perspective of
anyone who entered the lush world of Digimon always found such
changes occur in his or her life. The most surprising to the
children, however, was that the color of the food only seemed to
enhance its flavor, as well as the energy it instilled in them. The
juice was rich and sating, while the waffles were nothing short of
delectable. Thoroughly enjoying the meal, little conversation came as
the second batch was distributed amongst the digimon and Ivan, until
at last the group was properly fed.
"Indeed an
improvement from yesterday's lunch," Maddie commented drolly,
looking over at Ivan with the gentle, beautiful smile that nearly
turned Ivan into a puddle. He fortified himself on the thought that
she was indeed joking, and then returned the smile.
"I
thought we could use some special food, for today the journey must
commence. However, we must be all the more wary of dangers. We cannot
afford any more mistakes, for if someone should get as badly injured
as Maddie, we no longer possess the means by which to restore him or
her. Time is against us now, and we are only wasting it. Time allows
our enemy to get stronger and better prepared. Understand? Good.
Alright, everyone, let's pack up!" the last words came as a
crisp order, as of a general, and all present responded
quickly.
Within fifteen minutes, the party was ready to hike
deeper into the enchanted forest. Hoisting his heavy duffel bag onto
his shoulder, Ivan turned to take the lead along with the
dog-digimon. Taking a quick glance behind him to ensure that nothing
was forgotten, he called once more to the group. "With everyone
ready, let's move out!"
And so, the troupe mobilized once
again, heading into the adventures and dangers in store for them on
the second day of their journey.