Early eveing soon become late eveing. Not a soul stirred...except one...Chelsey lay on her back, hands behind her head, gazing at the stars. She wished the other Digidestind believed her, but knew that until she found Cheetahmon, they would not. Even then, they might not...With that thought in mind, she curled up into a ball, and tried to go to sleep. Sleep never came easily for her, and the fact that she might be kicked out of the group just cause the sleep to elude her completely. She casted a weary eye on Tai. What did she have to do to prove to him and the others that she was one of them, and just wanted to help? She continued to ponder on this, but did not get any ideas that could help. At last, sleep finally reached her. She closed her eyes, and slipped into a deep sleep...
:a few hours later:
Chelsey cuddled up close to Joe. It was still late evening and she was freezing. It was colder than she thought it was... She pulled Joe's arm over her small body and shivered violently. "It's so cold..." She whimpered as she snuggled close, her face on Joe's chest.
Joe slowly woke up to the shivering 5 year old in his arms. He smiled a little, but his eyes bore concern and worry. He wrapped his arms around the child and pulled her close. "What's wrong?"
"I-It's so cold..." She whispered softly. Her eyes remained closed.
"Cold?" Joe seemed confused. "It's not cold at all..." He could see Chelsey shivering as though she was in the tundra. He placed his hand on her forehead. It was warm, but not hot. Chelsey just had a small fever. It wasn't life threatening yet. He reached into his first aid kit, and pulled out some medicine.
He gave Chelsey 2 pills. "Here, eat these. I don't have a cup of water with me, so you'll have to just eat them." He tried to hand Chelsey the pills, but she wasn't moving. "Chelsey?" She was shaking to hard to notice him handing her the pills. He shrugged and pushed them into her mouth. Instinct took over, and she just swallowed them instantly.
"Good girl." Joe spoke softly, stroking Chelsey's hair. She smiled a little, and her breathing slowed down a bit. She was drifting back to sleep. Joe set her back on the ground. "Good night, Chelsey." With that, he leaned in and gave her a goodnight kiss on the forehead. He then rested back on the ground, and whispered to her, "See you in the morning."
He closed his eyes. Soon, he and Chelsey were off in dreamland...
:a short time later:
Chelsey huddled close to Joe during the night. The temperature dropped a little, but it was still warm. They could feel the cool breeze brushing up against their bodies. Chelsey rubbed her arms together. She still felt feverish, but not as bad as before. She looked at Joe.
She couldn't help but smile. "Thanks for your help, Joe." She whispered softly. She laid back down, and put her head on his chest. Almost on instict, Joe's arm moved up and was placed on her little body.
The girl blushed, but didn't move. She closed her eyes, and went back to sleep...
:a half our later:
Joe lay sleeping next to Chelsey. During the night, they had shifted, so now they were back to back to each other. Joe slowly woke up to a terrible smell close to his face. He found himself staring in the angry eyes of Leopardmon. JOe freaked out and was about to scream, but stopped short when the blue leopard hissed. "Make a sound and your friends will find you without a head..."
Joe froze in terror, but didn't make a sound. Leopardmon, assuming he understood, closed his teeth on the back of Joe's shirt and drug him off.
:about 10 minutes later:
Chelsey woke up. She stretched out, her head resting on a rock. She opened her eyes and looked to where Joe had lain. To her surprise, he was gone.
Bolting straight up, Chelsey rushed to the nearest person, Sora, and shook her shoulders. "Sora? Sora?" She said urgently.
Sora growled under her breath as she opened up her eyes. She was angry, but decided not to show it. She looked up at Chelsey, and rubbed her eyes. "What is it?"
"Where's Joe?" Chelsey said, almost hyperventilating. "Where is he? Is he okay? Is he hurt?" She started breathing fast, and she started to feel lightheaded.
"Chelsey! Chelsey!" Sora wrapped her arms around Chelsey's body and hugged her close. "Shhh...calm down... Slow down your breathing."
Chelsey slowly was able to control her breathing. But she was still worried about Joe. "I just hope he's okay."
"He's fine." Sora said, smiling. She then pulled Chelsey close to her. "Shh...go back to sleep..." Sora laid down, with one arm around Chelsey's smaller form. Chelsey, looking uneasily, snuggled a little close to Sora, and closed her eyes.
Time passed. Leopardmon came back to camp, and one by one, he begin to take the Digidestind, using the same threat over and over to keep them quiet. Soon, it was only Chelsey, Sora, Mimi and Tai left.
Chelsey slowly awoken. She looked around next to her. She was horrified to see Joe still missing. And now that she looked around, many of the others were gone too! Where were they? She let out a long scream of fright, which woke up Sora. She was sleeping next to Chelsey. When she heard the scream, she thought they were under attack.
"CHELSEY! What's wrong?"
"They're gone...they're gone!" She whined, burying her face into her hands.
"Who is?"
"Joe...and now almost everyone else!" She didn't remove her face from her hands.
"Come on...calm down...please..." Sora cradled the fiesty little girl. But she couldn't calm her down this time. Tears flowed from the little girl's face, and she struggled in Sora's arms. "Please, relax!" Sora ordered, but Chelsey wouldn't hear of it.
"It's my fault!" She screamed. It wasn't really her fault, but she had a tendency of believing she was bad luck.
"What's goin on?" A voice asked behind them.
Sora looked. "Mimi, she won't calm down." She held Chelsey in her arms, rocking her gently. "She's worried about the others."
Mimi walked over, a look of concern on her face. She knew why the 5 year old was acting like that. She couldn't blame her. "I know what you mean, but you can't get too worked up just because they're missing. We have to stay focused." "Focused on what!" the five year old screamed angrily. "Our friends are gone! The Digimon are gone! What else is there to focus on!" Mimi glanced around, so did Sora. Chelsey was right. The Digimon were gone too. The next one to speak was a very irritated Tai. "Alright, Chels. if it makes you feel better, go and look for them. I'm sure when you find them, they'll just tell you they had gotten lost..." he trailed off as the 5 year old gave him a nasty look. Standing up, she headed towards the woods. She would find them if it was the last thing she did.
When she was gone, Sora frowned at him. "You do realize she could ger lost, right?" Tai frowned at her and was about to speak when something russled in the bushes. Tai frowned. "Chelsey, I thought you were gonna..." he stopped short when the figure came out...
:somewhere out in the woods:
"Joe! Izzy! Matt! Where are you guys?" Chelsey stumbled over a large root on one of the trees. And that's when she heard screams. Without thinking, she turned back. And when she reached camp, she found Sora's hat and Tai's goggles. Picking them both up, she knew what had happened...and she vowed to find them...
To be continued.
Finally. Chapter 7 is up. The mild fever scene, as well as a couple of others were made by DarkHououmon. Be sure to credit her. Thank you.
Mini Marianne
