Disclaimer: Nothing's mine in this chapter. Not Digimon or Pullman's external soul and world cutting ideas. All references to Nora, Randy, or Adara, are mine however. As well as my gorgeous world theory. grin
neoKOS-MOS: Sorry for this wait. I was gonna post it on Friday, but it still needed some work, and then I had my AP test to study for. Aced it, I hope. Hi everyone! big wave Glad you liked the last chapter. I wasn't sure, since I'm taking a different direction here. Back to the roots of the story, I'd say. Enough rambling.
Read and enjoy! Thanks for being here.
Fudge
The alarm went off on her alarm clock. A pillow promptly collided with it, sending the two objects sliding off the desk to land in a heap on the floor. The alarm still blared defiantly, only muffled by the pillow sitting on top of it.
Rika groaned. She pulled herself out of bed and crawled over to the abominable thing. Over the past two month she had grown to hate alarm clocks, especially her own. When someone has to wake up at two in the morning just to hang out with her boyfriend, she's bound to develop something like that.
The violet eyed girl sat up and surveyed her room. She yawned and got up, heading off to the bathroom to shower. Torey grumbled and pulled himself out of bed to follow her. She turned the water on as hot as she could stand it and just stood in the stream for a few moments, letting the steam wake her up.
She still had a hard time believing what had happened yesterday was real. After Randy had taken her and Davis back to the rip, the two of them had split back to their own worlds, him to sleep, since it was three in the morning in his world. She had watched TV for a while, waiting for something. Maybe a vision. Something to prove that it all had really happened. And nothing had come. She had sat on the sofa with her soul until ten, and then had gone to bed, hoping to wake up in the middle of the night like last time, with some remarkable proof that she was indeed still sane. But she had slept all the way through, just like every other night since Ken had shown up at her door.
"Hey, Torey," she asked, voice echoing off the shower walls as she washed her hair.
"Hmm?" The lynx responded. He was sitting as far from the stream of water as the confines of the tub would allow, licking at his feet whenever they got wet.
"Do you think I'm not gonna have any dreams anymore?"
He frowned. "No, Rika. We aren't that lucky. They'll come back, and I assume they'll be stronger and more clear than ever."
She blinked. "Why?"
"Well, you know me better now. Remember what your father said? The better you know your soul, the better you can see."
The girl sighed and turned around to rinse her hair. She spoke, voice sounding muffled through the running water. "Then why did they go away for so long?"
I don't know. He replied, speaking mentally since he knew she couldn't hear him through the water. Maybe you haven't needed to see anything lately. Before, we really only saw things when they were necessary.
Was the last one really necessary? I still don't know what it meant.
The lynx sighed as well, a strange feeling in a mental conversation. Maybe it was a hint at what we're going to have to deal with now.
Rika walked slowly to school, eating a muffin as she went. Torey was squirreled away in her bookbag, trying to act like he was asleep, though she knew he couldn't be if she was awake. A few blocks of silence, and she turned into the schoolyard, kicking at a stone she had brought three blocks already.
"Hey, Rika!" Henry yelled from across the yard, waving her over.
The girl abandoned her rock and trudged over to him. "Where's everybody else?
"Takato went in early this morning to redo that math test he failed. Other than that, I don't know. You're here early today, you know."
She blinked and grabbed at his arm, twisting it around to look at his watch. She was early, and by fifteen minutes at that. "Stupid alarm clock must be running fast again."
The boy rubbed at his arm as she released it again. "It's probably because you reset it so often."
Rika frowned. "Shut up."
As of now, Henry was the only other person she had told about her relationship with Davis, other than her family. It was strange, but she had grown closer to the dark haired boy than any of the other tamers. Maybe that was because he had an annoying habit of figuring things out before she told him anything, but it had still happened. And who's to say that a girl's best friend besides her boyfriend can't be a guy?
"So, how'd it go?" He asked, ignoring her comment.
The redhead sighed, rolling her eyes. "Well, okay, I guess."
"You guess? It's the first date where you guys have actually gone somewhere special, and it was only okay?"
"Shut up, Henry." She hissed, glancing around to make sure no one had heard. She'd never live it down if some cutesy gossip girl found out she had a boyfriend "Look, the dinner was great, but other stuff happened and the rest got cut short. I'll tell you about that later."
He gave her a strange look and opened his mouth to ask something.
"Later." She demanded.
"Hey, Henry!" Takato called from the building, coming out the front door toward them. "I passed this time."
Rika chewed her eraser, staring down at math test before her. Quadratic equation. Quadratic equation. What was it again?
X equals negative b plus or minus the square root of b squared minus four a c over two a. Torey rattled off, reading it from the cheat sheet she had stuffed in his face seconds before the test had been handed out.
The girl scratched the equation down and finished off the rest of the test, thanking the color of her eyes that the lynx was there for her. With five minutes to spare, she flipped the sheet over and set her head down on the desk, closing her eyes. She was tired. Always tired. It was that stupid time difference between her world and Davis's. But now, the times were all going to be the same. She smiled into her arm. Maybe they'd stay that way, or at least those two worlds.
She opened her eyes to glance around the room, but almost jumped as she saw purple clouding her vision. She swallowed and set her head down again, closing her eyes so that when she passed out, it would only look like she was sleeping.
It was a cloud, like a digital field, except lavender. She looked around, trying to see what was supposed to be there, but all her eyes met was the purple of swirling cloud. And then, out of the distance, something emerged. It was large, serpentine, with two huge wings jutting from it's back. The head of the thing, dragon perhaps, was long and pointed, the snout ending where the mouth began, in a tangle of shining white teeth. The long body was smooth and the only other limbs besides the wings were two powerful legs, clawed like an eagle's talons. Above all the other detail, the creature was the palest of blue, starkly contrasting the swirling of lavender surrounding it. It swooped close with a flap of it's monstrous wings, and reared it's head back, sending a flurry of frozen air her way.
"Rika?" Henry whispered, his hand on her shoulder.
She jumped as she came out of the dream. Takato and Henry stared at her as she sat upright. The teacher was watching her from the front of the classroom, a stack of tests in hand. The girl shook her head to clear it and then snatched up the test in front of her. She walked to the front and handed it to him.
"Sorry. I must've fallen asleep after I finished." She muttered.
The teacher nodded and Rika stalked back to her desk to collect her things. The boys followed her out of the room.
"Rika, are you okay?" Henry asked, looking a little worried.
"Had a dream." She responded.
"That's funny." Takato said, shifting the straps on his bookbag. "I never dream when I fall asleep in class."
She frowned and rolled her eyes. "No, stupid. Not that kind of dream. A vision. A foretelling. Whatever you wanna call it."
He blinked. "Oh."
"What happened?" Henry asked. "You haven't had one for a long time."
The girl rubbed her eyes, partially from residual exhaustion from the dream, partially from annoyance at these questions. "I'll tell you guys once we get a table at lunch."
She hurried off to go to her locker, which was farther from theirs. Stuffing books inside, she zipped her bookbag open and peeked inside at Torey.
Hurry up. The lynx whispered. I want some of that pie that always disappears.
Rika shoved her literature book in next to him and closed the bag up again. Quickly, she made her way to the cafeteria, knowing that if the pie was gone, she'd hear about it for the rest of the day. She got in line and thankfully swiped up the second to last piece. The violet eyed girl made her way over to the table she usually sat at during lunch, and found the two boys saving it for them. They looked at her strangely as she arrived, food already in hand.
"Sorry." She said, setting down her tray. "Torey wanted pie."
Takato frowned. "Today's pie day. Darn. Is there any left?"
Rika shook her head as the boys got up to get in line for their food. She set her bookbag up on the table and zipped it open, leaving the flap closed. Glancing around to make sure no one was watching, she slid the plate of pie inside, and settled down to eat her own lunch. Soon, the two boys returned with their food, and sat down, Takato next to her and Henry across.
"Did he eat it all already?" The gogglehead asked, eyeing her bookbag.
The girl peeked inside, finding the plate already licked clean. "Yup." She said, pulling it out and setting it next to her drink.
He shrugged. "Oh well."
Stabbing a fork repeatedly into his corn, Henry watched Rika. "So, what happened in your dream?"
She frowned as she stuck a bite of pineapple in her mouth. "That doesn't really matter." She sighed and stared at the lights overhead for a moment.
Tell them. Torey urged.
"Fine." The girl replied out loud, ripping her straw out of it's plastic wrapping and stabbing it into her drink carton, spilling some. "What's really important is what happened last night."
The dark haired boy stared at her, eyebrows raised. His eyes flicked over to Takato for a second.
Rika just frowned, annoyed. She waved a hand at him to shut him up she looked over at her other friend to begin the story. "So, I was poking around the digital world last night with Renamon, and we got attacked by this weird digimon..."
She went on with her story, talking quietly so the people around them wouldn't hear her. She went through all of it. The fight with Felsemon and appearance of Delphiniumon. Nora's story and their ride through the blue transition world. Slowly, she began the discussion they had had with Adara and the others, about the time pattern cycle and the Core of the digital world. After a while, the boys stopped asking questions when they were confused and just stared at her, mouths slightly open. The only thing she left out of her story, was why she had been in the digital world in the first place, and she changed when Davis had come into the picture. Eventually, with only five minutes left in lunch, she finished. Takato just stared. Henry did the same for a moment before recovering.
"So, they want us to go to the center of the digital world, and destroy this thing?"
"No." Rika frowned and stabbed her fork into the foam of her tray, making a pattern with the holes. "I said they want us to help them kill some of his henchmen. I think I dreamed about one of them. It was an ice dragon."
Takato blinked. "An ice dragon?"
Henry licked his lips. "So, when is this whole thing gonna happen?"
The girl shrugged, relinquishing her fork and leaning back in her chair. "Whenever they try to contact us again, I guess."
"And we'll be able to fight again?" Takato asked. "Guilmon's been wanting to for a while."
The dark haired boy nodded. "Yeah. Terriermon too. He's got way too much energy lately."
The bell rang. Rika zipped up her bookbag and put it on, grabbing her trash. "I guess you should get everybody else together at my house after school. I can tell then too."
The boys nodded, and the three of them left the lunchroom, dropping their trash in the garbage and going to class.
Finally, the last class of the day rolled around. They were watching a movie that week, so Rika sat in her desk and stared at the television that had been rolled into the classroom. She was bored. The lights were turned off in the room, but she couldn't seem to fall asleep like she had yesterday, despite the fact that she was tired. There was too much on her mind right now.
She pulled out her notebook and paged through it until she found a blank sheet somewhere in the back. Digging a pencil and eraser out of her bookbag, she pulled her legs up on the chair, sitting Indian style, and tried to remember the dream she'd had during algebra. Hesitating for a moment, she set the tip of her lead to the paper and started to draw the ice monster. It had a long body, slick like an icicle, but flexible and curved. Cruel mouth full of jagged teeth, and feet just as cruelly armed. The wings were the hardest, running off the page as she drew them to size.
What are you doing? Torey asked as she finished up with the drawing. I'm bored.
I drew the dragon. She answered, setting her pencil down and frowning at the graphite coating her pinkie.
Let me see.
The girl shook her hand out and grabbed the bookbag off the floor. She set it in her lap and carefully zipped the top open a few inches. Torey peeked out, keeping his head inside. He stared at the drawing for a second, scrutinizing it, and then nodding.
It's good. Those drawing books you get from the library are helping.
Rika allowed herself the tiniest of smiles before closing the bag up again and setting it on the floor. She sighed, shutting the notebook and crossing her arms over it.
Rika glanced around the room. They were sitting in her living room, populating her sofa and chairs, leaving her to sit on the table. Next to her, Torey yawned and let his hazel eyes sweep over the humans expressions, trying to read them. The two of them had finished retelling the story of last night to the tamers that hadn't been at lunch with them. Jeri sat next to Takato on the sofa, eyes wide as she clutched Katzemon to her chest.
The little digimon was the in-training form of Leomon, having just increased in level from Katjemon last month. He looked very much like his younger counterpart, except with a body and mouth. At the moment, his expression was just as innocently confused as his tamer's.
Kenta sat next to Takato, eyes locked with his own digimon, who was perched on the arm of the sofa. Kazu was sitting in a chair to Rika's left. He looked like he had spaced off somewhere during her story, and was now trying to piece together the information he had missed. Which annoyed her. On her other side, Henry was slouched down in the armchair. His sunglasses had fallen over his eyes, and he sat there, arms crossed over his chest, watching her over the tops of them. Sitting on the floor, his sister had Terriermon and Lopmon sitting on either side of her, as she fiddled with the tips of their ears where the long appendages fell into her lap.
"So, when do we go?" Kazu asked, seeming to have retrieved all the information he could find in that head of his.
She frowned, annoyed at being asked that question so much. "I said whenever they come back and ask us to go."
"All right," Henry cut in, seeming to sense her approaching anger and taking over for a second. "Do we all acknowledge that we want to do this, despite the bad things that can happen?"
Everyone nodded, although Jeri and Kenta looked a little apprehensive. Henry just looked at them, eyes barely visible above his glasses.
The girl looked away. "Yes. I am. It's just that..." She looked down at Katzemon. "He's not very strong yet."
"But, we'll go." The kitten digimon said, voice surprisingly tenor for his small body.
Marineangemon made some squeaking noises to his partner, and Kenta slouched down a little, not looking happy. "We'll go too."
"Okay." Henry sat up and leaned forward, setting his elbows on his knees and lacing his hands together in front of himself. "I think we need to realize that this is gonna be harder than anything we've ever fought before. We've fought mega levels, but never anything stronger." He looked over at Rika, over the glasses again. "Do you think we're ready?"
The violet eyed girl blinked, letting her face go distant for a moment. She glanced over at the picture of the ice drake, lying open next to her. She shrugged. "I don't know. From the dream, it was really powerful. But that doesn't really mean anything until we fight it."
"We'll be fine." Takato said, standing up and smiling, full of bravado. "We beat the D-Reaper after all. And that was a while ago. Our digimon are probably even stronger now."
"Yeah." Kazu added, throwing his legs over the arm of his chair to sit sideways, putting on his bragging face. "Me and Gaurdromon are plenty strong enough to take out one ice lizard. I bet we could do it by ourselves."
"No way. You'd need mine and Takato's help." Kenta threw in, falling for it.
The three boys fell into fighting over whose digimon was stronger and which was better at fighting. Rika sighed, rubbing her temples as she shut her notebook. Henry slouched down in his chair again. Jeri squeezed out from the midst of the argument and sat next to Rika, watching them safely from the sidelines.
"Could you guys keep it down in there?" Rika heard her mom call. The woman appeared in the doorway, hand over the mouthpiece of the phone.
"Sorry." They chorused, and Takato glanced at his watch. "Oh, shoot. I have to get home. I was supposed to deliver bread after school. I completely forgot."
The violet eyed girl led the lot of them to the door, and eventually shoved them all out. Takato ran off, and then Kazu and Kenta each headed home with the excuse of homework. Rika doubted if the spiky haired boy would be doing much of that, though. Jeri left as well, since she had to tutor for the preschool she volunteered at. With the house more empty, the redhead went back to the living room, where Henry still hadn't budged, though Suzie was playing with their two digimon in front of the sofa.
Rika stepped in front of the dark haired boy, looking down at him. "What's your problem?"
He sighed and took off his sunglasses, rubbing his eyes. "Do you really think we can do this, Rika?"
She ignored him and walked off to the kitchen. After a moment, he got up and followed her. She pulled the fridge open and dug around inside for a while, looking for anything unhealthy to eat. Nothing. She closed it up again.
"Do you?" He asked again, leaning against the counter.
The violet eyed girl fixed him with a stare. "What do you want me to say? No? We'll fail? It'll be the end of the world? I actually think we can do it. It'll be hard, but we'll pull through." She started poking around in the drawers. "You shouldn't be so pessimistic."
He laughed. "I prefer realistic."
She nodded sarcastically. "Right. Go home, Henry. Do your homework and stop worrying about it. We'll be fine. I'll see you tomorrow."
He went off to collect his sister as Rika searched the cabinets for something good. Dry pasta. Salt. Crackers. A tub of chocolate frosting. That'll do. She took the brown can off the shelf and pealed the silver liner off the top. Walking back to the living room, she scooped a glob out of the container with a finger and stuck it in her mouth.
"Come on, Suzie. We have to go home now."
The little girl looked sad, and Rika was surprised to see Renamon playing with her. The fox stood and helped Suzie to her feet.
"Bye Renamon." She cooed as Henry led her toward Rika and the door, Terriermon and Lopmon in tow.
"Are you really eating that?" The boy asked as he noticed what she had in her hand.
"Yeah." She said, dunking her finger into the brown fudge again. "Now, can I please have some peace and quiet to do my homework in?"
He smiled and she let him out.
neoKOS-MOS: Was this one a little longer than usual? I think I'm getting better at length. It's not many writers who have trouble with length. Mostly brevity. Oh, and I have a dilemma. I said there's gonna be three major bad guys they fight, but I can't think of how to split the groups up. Any suggestions. And please don't just say I should do it by season. Thanks! And please review.
cutekitty: Yay! You returned. Glad you liked both of them. I was sure putting Dairuki in the summary would attract people.
Dark Qiviut: Lucky you. Cruise to the Bahamas? I've never been out of the Midwest, much less the country. But, anyway, I'm glad you liked it. I was pretty sure you would, since you're an epic fan. And I see no one likes Adara. weep Perhaps she didn't get the best intro. Later. Write about a pairing I hate? I'll have to think about that one…