Chapter 12

The sunrise tinted the sky a beautiful mixture of orange, pink, and golden. Kari Kamiya stared up at it wistfully.

Sleep had not come easy the night before. Ken Ichijouji's situation put a lot of stress and confusion in her head, and she couldn't stop thinking.

She paced around aimlessly. She noticed a little flower, pink in color, with the morning dew hanging off its petals. She bent down, picked it up, and sniffed it… Marvelous.

Then she heard someone stirring. She turned around, seeing Ken crawl out of his tent tiredly. He yawned and stretched, then lazily walked over to the campfire and sat by it. He didn't seem to notice Kari at all.

Kari quietly walked over to him and sat beside him…

After a few seconds, he glanced over at her and exclaimed, "Whoa! Where'd you come from!"

She giggled. "I've been here to whole time, silly."

"Oh?" Ken questioned with another yawn. "My brain is too dead to really know anything right now." He closed his eyes, laying his head in his hand. "Too tired…"

"Then what are you doing up?"

"Just couldn't go back to sleep, I guess."

There was a brief silence, then Kari tapped Ken's head, saying, "Hey, is your brain alive enough to talk to me about something?"

"Dunno," Ken mumbled. "Ask away and we'll see."

"Well, I want you to tell me what exactly you saw yesterday. After it happened, you didn't really talk about it. Now that it's over and done with, I want to know the details."

Ken sighed. "I saw some scary things, Kari." He opened his eyes and turned to face the girl. "I'm sure it was this 'Dark Ocean' you've been telling me about."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. It started out with just feelings and noises. Like, I felt as if I was walking through deep water, and I literally heard waves! Then it all happened so suddenly. You all vanished, and the next thing I know, I'm standing in this open, empty space. Nothing but me, surrounded by water. Then it started to come up on me, rising slowly."

Kari commented, "You must've been terrified."

"That would be an understatement," Ken told her. "You have no idea just how afraid I was! Anyway, as I was standing there, I felt a slap on my cheek. Yolei faintly appeared in front of me, and I could hear her. Then I felt you squeeze my hand and you appeared. Slowly, I heard the others' voices and they all faded in as well. Then I had to force the ocean out of my head. It was hard, but with you guys by my side, I was able to do it."

"This is so strange, Ken. Things like that shouldn't be happening now. The Dark Ocean should be gone. Supposedly, we… fixed things."

"'Fixed things?'" Ken wondered.

"Long story, Ken."

Ken sighed. "I just hope that I quit having these visions of it." He paused. "No," he corrected himself, "not 'visions'. Yesterday was real. The ocean was going to swallow me." The mere thought of it sent a shiver down his spine.

"Hmm," Kari muttered, consumed by thought. "I hope it stops too, Ken."

Yolei let out a shriek and immediately grabbed onto Ken's arm.

The group was engulfed in the darkness of a cave, flashlights being their only source of illumination. Tai, who led the group, quickly whipped around and shined his flashlight on the girl.

"Yolei!" he called. "What is it?"

"I don't know!" she shouted back. "This thing! It flew right by me- Whoosh!- and it ran into me and… I have no idea what it was!"

Ken used his own flashlight to get a look at the cave's ceiling. "Just as I suspected," he muttered. He then pointed to a little figure hanging on the ceiling. "Bats."

"Bats?" Yolei questioned.

"Yep, but it's nothing to be afraid of. They're not gonna hurt you," Ken assured her.

Davis laughed. "Yolei, you should've heard yourself scream! Bats, gosh." He let out another little chuckle. "We saw scarier things in the digital w-"

"Hey!" Matt exclaimed suddenly. "We've still got a long way to go! No time to stand around and look at bats!"

"Right!" Tai agreed. "Let's go!"

The group continued forward. Yolei complained now and then about how it was "too wet", "too muddy", "too dark." It was comical, the way she would whimper and whine. They carried on through some crazy curves and narrow passages.

"Ken," there came a whisper.

Ken stopped walking. "Did you say something, Yolei?" he wondered.

"Nope," she answered.

He asked the others, "Did one of you call for me?"

"No," they all shot back.

"Why, Ken?" Yolei questioned.

"I…" Ken paused, moving his flashlight around the cave and scanning his surroundings. "I thought I heard something."

Yolei nudged him gently. "Maybe it was one of those bats," she joked. "Don't be spooked, Ken! 'It's nothing to be afraid of. They're not gonna hurt you.'"

"Yeah…" Ken muttered. "Must've been… a bat…"

With that, they went on their way.

The sun had dipped beyond the horizon long ago. The stars were out and the moon shone brightly above. The digidestined sat around a campfire. Matt Ishida held an acoustic guitar, playing and singing for his friends. They sang along happily.

Kari sat next to TK, tapping her foot and clapping as she sang. She was the happiest she'd been the entire trip, as all plaguing thoughts had left her. However, as her gaze fell across the fire, she noticed that Ken hadn't joined in their song. He sat up straight, looking around cautiously. For a brief second, his body flickered.

Kari stopped her merriment abruptly. She tapped TK on the shoulder.

He turned to her, grinning, "Come on, Kari, sing!" he urged. Then he noticed the seriousness about her face. "What is it?" he inquired, lowering his voice.

The girl grabbed his arm and pulled him up. "I need to talk to you," she whispered. With that, the two walked off. They went just far enough to get a bit of privacy.

"Something weird is going on, TK," Kari informed him.

"What's going on?"

"Was I the only one who noticed Ken just now? He was so alert, like he was looking for something. Then he flickered! Just like yesterday, TK!"

"Hmm…"

"And in the cave today, I think he was hearing things! He told me that's how it started yesterday, with noises. Something's wrong, TK. I'm so scared… What if something really bad happens to Ken? The Dark Ocean, it's a horrible thing. I thought I'd never have to face it again…"

TK wrapped his arms around the girl and pulled her close. "Don't worry," he told her.

"Ken doesn't know just what he's dealing with. All he knows is that it's not of this world and he's afraid of it. And there's no way to explain it to him…"

"We'll figure this thing out, somehow," TK reassured her.

"Oh, I hope so."

"Come on, let's get back to camp," TK suggested, "so we can keep an eye on Ken. Don't you think we should be there if something happens?"

"Of course! We have to be there if something happens!"

"Yep."

There was a short moment of silence.

Kari looked up at TK, meeting his sapphire eyes. He was looking at her strangely, with something in his eyes that she'd never seen before. He then flashed her a smile, which sent a terrible blush to her cheeks.

She questioned with uncertainty, "Umm, TK?"

"Yeah?"

"You… You can let go now…"

A blush even greater than Kari's fell across TK's cheeks. "Oh… Uh… Right. I was just… I just wanted to tell you that you don't have to worry about anything." He gave her one final squeeze before letting her go. "I'll protect you," he added tenderly.

"Th-Thank you," Kari said shyly.

"Now… um… back to camp."

The two slowly headed back to camp, the redness refusing the leave their faces. Not a word was said. When the camp was in sight, Kari was relieved to notice a smiling Ken. He had finally joined in the singing and looked genuinely happy.

She grabbed TK's arm and ran to the campfire, dragging the boy with her. She then plopped down, and immediately resumed the happy singing that she'd had only moments ago. And all the while, she kept her arm locked around her TK's; her best friend, her protector.