Pretty long...uh...
Good news! Because I have no life, I have made outlines for the next six chapters! Yay! However, it may still take a bit bit due to my weakness for 'perfection'. I have to have everything fit somehow... Oy.
Oh and Hey, by the way, I've been seeing some AWESOME reviews from Rubberman2025. Thank you so very much, you have cheered me up! I have new confidence now! Yay!
That doesn't mean not to excpect a little negativity, it's who I am, but I'll try and cut it down. Thank you dude, and all of my other reviews out there! Yay!
Okay I'm done now.
A Week and a half later
(T.K's POV)
I was very happy. Matt, Sonya, and I had gone to see the doctor and apparently, my leg had healed very quickly. Much faster than they had anticipated. Of course, the doctor looked at my leg, but they agreed that I could have it taken off. I was ready to jump for joy there, if I didn't still have the cast on. But I was still happy.
I personally think that this came at a good time, because that meant that I could participate in Gym again! That and I get to go on with school normally again.
It's been an interesting week so far. A few days with Hughes and Kari had already blown something up. She got a detention for it, but she usually does pretty well when she gets a D.T with Hughes.
Sonya was still shy and mute, but she seemed to have been coming around. She had gotten comfortable at the apartment and is trying to fit in as best as she can.
I was quite impressed with her effort in school and the moving adjustment. She was receiving excellent grades so far in her advanced classes and was on friendly terms with the teachers already.
Unfortunately for her, Ashley had found interest in her, too. I don't mean interest as in she wanted her to join their clique, but as fresh meat to maul. Sonya never said anything to me or Kari, but we could tell that she was beginning to stress out over Ashley.
Kari and I talked to her about it that Friday in English.
"It's nothing, honestly." Sonya shook her head.
"Sonya, it's clear that Ashley's got it in for you. She's been saying things, hasn't she?" said Kari.
Sonya hesitated, but shook her head.
"Sonya, it's okay. You can tell us anything. If someone is giving you trouble, you tell us and we'll take care of it." I said.
"…She's been teasing me, is all. It's nothing that other people don't face." Said Sonya finally.
"Well, that depends. What's she been saying?" questioned Kari.
"She's been calling me a 'bitch' and makes comments on my 'plastic surgery'. What is that, anyway?" said Sonya.
Kari and I blinked.
"Well, it's where someone gets fake implants. A fake chest, nose, face, hair, stuff like that." We explained.
"I've never done that." Said Sonya.
"Of course not. Ashley is just jealous of you because you're more attractive than her." I explained
"And you can let us handle the name calling. She shouldn't be calling you that, you haven't done anything." Said Kari bitterly.
Sonya nodded.
I smiled at her. "We good on that? Just come talk to us."
Sonya smiled.
"Hello class! We're finally a week into school, aren't we excited?!" Mrs. Maxwell chirped.
The class groaned and jeered.
"What? No?! Oh, Come on kids!" Mrs. Maxwell bounced in her spot, then stopped.
"Awe, well… Let's get to work than!" she shouted happily and the whole room slumped.
"We're going to be reading Beowulf this week. I've already passed out your books, so if you'd all be so good and cover them. I've got some paper and scissors out for you so you don't have to go home and forget!" said Mrs. Maxwell as though talking to kindergarteners.
I chuckled and we went over to get our covers.
After class, I walked Sonya World History and Kari said she'd meet me in Gym.
Gataniaki had a liking for new kids, seeing as he was bullied as a newbie himself. He and Sonya hit it right off. Gatanaki was interested in Sonya's thoughts. I must say, she had some interesting opinions, especially when it came to what we should do with population control and global warming.
We were almost at the room when she spoke up.
"Thank you, and Kari, for offering to help me." She said quietly.
"Hey, it's not a problem I'm your bother after all." I laughed. She smiled and walked into Gatanaki's room. I began jogging to my gym class, seeing that it was two minutes until the bell rang.
I entered the room, dressed down, and walked out to the field.
Kari was already out on the grass stretching out and popping her back.
I walked over and poked her in the sides.
"Ah! Damn it, why do you always insist on doing that?" she said, surprised at my appearance.
"Well, you leave yourself so open, I can't help it!" I started laughing.
"Shut up!" She turned beat red.
"Hey! Get in line!" shouted Betsy, our assistant coach. Everyone lined up alphabetically, but continued their chatter. Davis waved at Kari from his spot in line and started talking to one of the other boys next to him. I was glad that he had finally moved on from his crush on her. Now they could act normally with each other rather than Kari needing to hide behind me and worrying about Davis stalking her.
Betsy walked down the line, checking people off on the attendance list.
I never really liked Betsy that much. She was almost literally a cow with her size and weight. She didn't do a damn thing with us in class except for a little basketball. Apparently she went out for modeling and didn't understand why she wasn't chosen for the cover of Home Style Magazine. I laughed when I heard this.
I laughed a lot.
She finished off and told us that we were going to be playing Field hockey. Kari and I loved this game. We got a little competitive, but it was all in good fun. The object of the game was basically to take a bunch of hockey sticks and hit the big waffle ball into the opposing goal. Kari and I were always smart in this game and wore our shin guards under our gym clothes. No one knew this and seems to be afraid of us when we wielded the large sticks.
It was boys' verses girls and boys took the white sticks. Kari and I faced off at the center with the ball. We whacked the ground and the others' stick three times and the game was on. Boys were hitting the balls back and forth and earning goals over and over. The girls, except for Kari and a few others were standing by and talking. Kari looked at them disgruntled and sighed.
I had taken the ball from one of the other girls and was leisurely making my way to the goal. By now we were 16 to 0, so I figured it was alright.
I heard running behind me and figured Kari wasn't finished with the game yet. I sidestepped and started running, hitting the ball along the way.
Kari and I fought for the ball playfully, and Kari had managed to keep it away from their goal.
She hit at the ball and missed, but almost hit my legs. I jumped back, leaving the ball in the open. We were about the same distance from it and it was only half a second before we were both at it. I took the ball and she strafed back a ways.
I grinned. I always loved when she and I played one on one. No one won or lost, we always seemed to be equally matched in all the sports we played.
I watched Kari the whole way down the field, but I hadn't seen her next move at all. I suddenly saw a red angry glint I her eyes and she swung the hockey stick at the ball with such force that it broke my stick in half and sent the ball flying across the field and pass the road.
I was unbalanced by the move and fell backward. I looked at my stick in shock.
"Wow, Kari. I didn't know you had it in you!" I said.
The look in her eye had gone away and she looked at me with fright.
"Oh my God! I'm so sorry! Are you alright?" She said.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I don't think the stick is though." I joked, holding the stick up.
Betsy stormed across the field to us.
"What happened?" she demanded.
"The stick broke. Must've had a crack in it somewhere." I explained.
"Well, go get the ball and get a new stick." Said Betsy and went back to her shady table.
"I'll come with you." Said Kari, dropping her hockey stick and following me.
"What was that? I've never seen you so aggressive before." I said.
"I don't know. I kinda saw red and just lashed out at the closest thing." She said with her eyes downcast.
"Is there something you want to talk about?" I asked. She shook her head.
We retrieved the ball and returned to the field. The teachers told us to take our showers a few minutes after we arrived. I walked with Davis to the locker rooms to change.
"Dude, I didn't think Kari could do something like that." Said Davis, still shocked from the event.
"Neither did I. Something was bothering her, too. She looked angry at something, I think there's something up." I said to him.
We dress and exited to the warm July air. I saw Kari leaning against the trees by the building doors and Davis and I walked over to her.
"You alright?" we asked.
"Fine." Kari answered tiredly.
We saw Gayle walk by and give Kari the thumbs up.
"Dude! That kicked so much ass! I wish I could make a hit like that!" She beamed and entered the building when the bell rang.
We stared after the American blond strangely.
"I don't think I'll ever get used to that girl." Said Davis. We both nodded.
Upon entering the tiled hallway, we noticed that people were pressed up against the wall, then walking away.
I raised a brow, then noticed that Gayle and Leiko were sliding down the hall in their socks.
"What are they doing?" asked Kari.
"Leiko's idea. They've named the hallway the 'Floor of God.' Said one of the kids beside us.
We nodded.
"Ah."
"Hey, are we going to the digital world today?" asked Davis.
"I think we should. Things are just getting worse there." I said. "And besides, it's probably about time I took Sonya." I smiled.
"You sure?" asked Davis.
"She's a digidestined, too, it turns out." I answered.
Kari and Davis looked at me.
"Yeah, I found out in one of her letters. She has a digivice, but doesn't know anything about the digital world."
"Really? Well, then yeah! Bring her! She could really help us out!" said Davis.
We continued through the hallway to Lunch. I walked to Gatanaki's room to pick up Sonya when I saw Ashley and her friends huddled by the door.
I saw Sonya pinned in the center, looking at them confusedly.
As I got closer, I heard Ashley speaking.
"What are you even doing here? And with T.K of all people? You shouldn't be anywhere near him." She sneered. Sonya blinked.
"I don't quite understand what you're talking about." She said meekly.
The girls' snickered at her choice of words.
"Why don't you just get out of here, Blondie? You don't belong here." Said Ashley, putting her hands on her hips and sneered at Sonya. I saw Soya's eye twitch a little.
"Hey, what's going on here?" I said angrily.
"Oh, Hi T.K." Ashley said cutely. I didn't have the patience to put up with her flirting, then.
"What are you doing, pinning Sonya to the wall like that?" I demanded. Ashley stepped back a bit, realizing that I was angry.
I didn't give her time to answer me.
"Come on Sonya, let's go." I said to Sonya and she followed me away from the group.
I noticed Ashley glare at Sonya before walking the other way.
"Don't you mind them, Sonya. They have no business talking to you like that." I told her. She nodded her head, looking to the floor.
"Are you alright?" I asked her worriedly.
"I'm fine." She said, rubbing the corner of her eye.
I looked at her and smiled.
"Hey, you wanna know something?" I asked her, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Hmm?" she looked up at me.
"Ashley doesn't have any real friends, I don't think. No one likes her because she's a total Bitch. You have more than she does and she's jealous." I said with a smile.
She bit the corner of her mouth to hold back a smile.
"Why are trying not to smile?" I asked.
"Father said it was wrong to laugh at others' misfortune." She explained, holding a hand to cover her mouth.
"Well, you can laugh at her. There's nothing wrong with that." I said and we made our way out of the school for lunch.
---
(Kari's POV)
"She did what?" I said outraged. T.K had told me what Ashley had said to Sonya, and I had to say I was pissed.
Me, T.K and Sonya sat in the Frosty's with our ice cream. Davis said that he, Yolie, Cody and Ken would join us a little later.
"That's what she said." T.K muttered.
"I'm gonna kill that little bitch." I said angrily.
"Whoa, calm down Kari." said T.K.
"I can't! She's been doing this for too long! I myself had a good share of that, and you know it!" I shouted. Brenda, the lady that worked the registers looked at us disapprovingly.
T.K waved apologetically and looked back at me.
"At least lower your voice. I don't want to get kicked out." He said, eating more of his ice cream.
Sonya ate away at hers slowly. She appeared to be thinking about something, which I guessed was the events earlier.
"Don't listen to her, Sonya. I went through that shit, too, and let me tell you it doesn't get any better." I said, frowning deeply. We heard the door open and saw Davis, Coy, Ken, and Yolie come through and sit with us.
"Hey guys, how's it going?" asked Ken.
"Bad." T.K muttered.
"What happened?" asked Cody.
"Ashley's already pinning Sonya to the walls." Said T.K.
Sonya looked away from the others. She was still quiet and didn't talk around them.
"What? That's bogus!" shouted Davis.
Ken noticed I wasn't talking and looked over at me.
"What's wrong Kari? You look upset." He said.
"She's pissed. It's better if you don't get into it." Said T.K with a sigh.
"Anyway, changing the subject. Davis said that Sonya had a digivice." Said Yolie, changing the subject.
"Yeah. Show them, Sonya." Said T.K lightly.
Sonya pulled out her digivice from her belt and showed it to them. It was like ours, only pure white.
"Cool! Then that means you can come to the digital world and help us!" said Yolie excitedly. "We can actually hang out!"
Sonya put the Digivice away, still saying nothing.
"You wanna go?" T.K asked her. She looked at him, then at the others. She looked at me last, for a long time actually, then nodded her head.
"Alright! Perfecto!" Yolie cheered. Everyone else grinned.
"We'll see you in the computer lab after school, then. Okay?" said Davis to Sonya more than us. She nodded. I must admit, she looked pretty cute like that. Her eyes were like Doe eyes and she had a small, submissive look to her face. It was sad to really think about it, seeing how scared she still was, but it was cute at the same time. I saw Davis smile and blush. I raised an eyebrow, and so did T.K.
"Hey! The bell's gonna ring, we should get back to school." Said Cody, looking at his watch. We nodded and finished our ice cream quickly, causing me and T.K to have massive brain freezes.
We made our way back to the school for our next grueling lesson.
I wondered as we walked, why Sonya seemed to look to me for her answer earlier.
I figured I'd work that out later when we came back.
---
Later that day, I walked into the computer lab, greeting the other digidestined.
T.K and Sonya weren't there yet.
"Where's Blondie and Blondette?" I asked.
"Uh, T.K and Sonya? I don't know. They haven't arrived yet." Said Davis.
Right then, T.K and Sonya walked in hurriedly.
"What's with you?" I asked.
"Had to hurry before Reynolds caught up with us to bug me about a book he wants me to read." Explained T.K.
"Ah."
"Well, since we're all here, let's get going!" said Davis and held his digivice out to the computer. He was sucked into the computer, followed by Cody, Yolie, and Ken.
"You go first, I wanna make sure you make it through alright." Said T.K gently pushing Sonya in front of him. She held her digivice to the screen and was sucked through the portal as well.
T.K and I looked at each other. I looked back to the screen and transported myself as well. Just before being pulled through, I noticed T.K's gaze fixed on my neck. I realized as I traveled through the portal that my pendant was visible.
I landed with a soft thud on the dirt, followed by T.K. Looking around, I saw that we were in a large, white plain. Sonya hadn't gotten up from her landing. She sat, looking around the area carefully.
"You alright?" I asked.
She nodded, but she seemed alert.
"What is it?"
She nodded her head to the plains.
"Do you see something?" Asked Davis.
Sonya didn't answer.
"Hey, that's a pretty cool necklace." Said Yolie, pointing at the pentagram.
"Thanks." I said, touching it.
"Why do you have a pentagram around your neck?" asked Cody.
"Because I do." I answered, feeling defensive. "Why?"
"Nothing, It's just that Grandpa had always said that it represented evil." Said Cody quietly to me.
I blinked, feeling a white hot sensation of what felt like anger, and strangely pride, raise through my body.
"Come on, let's find out where we are." Said T.K.
We nodded and Davis took the lead. We traveled across the plain, following the mountain range that lay a distance before us. I heard a rustle in the tall grass and looked toward the sound.
I saw the white grass shift aside as something moved through it. I was then attacked by a little white cat.
"Gatomon!" I shouted out in surprise.
I fell backward on my rear and looked at Gatomon.
"Hi Kari." She said playfully.
I sighed.
"Hi Gatomon."
Behind Gatomon stood the other digimon, who all ran to their partners.
Patamon flew to T.K's arms happily.
"T.K! It's been so long!" he said. T.K laughed with him.
"Sonya, this is my friend Patamon." T.K introduced.
She smiled at him.
"Patamon, this is my sister, Sonya."
"You have a Sister?" asked the little digimon.
T.K nodded.
"Hiya Sonya! I'm Veemon, but you can call me Veemon!" greeted Veemon.
Sonya blinked at the little digimon, then smiled.
We introduced all the digimon and Sonya, then I looked down at Gatomon.
"Where are we?" I asked her.
"You're in the White Valley. The plains here are all white and they seem to have a certain power radiating from them." Gatomon explained. "It's one of the passage ways between the three major regions."
"We've never been here before." Said Yolie.
"It's been concealed by Magick for a number of years, until Shadow came and ended that." Said Hawkmon, crossing his wings.
"Gee, anything else we should know?" asked Davis sarcastically.
"Yes actually. But we need to get away from here. You see many creatures in this area now, especially Blood Harvesters." Said Armadillomon.
"Where's the safest place close to here?" asked T.K.
"There's the Koryn Village just on the edge of the plains. They may provide shelter for us." Suggested Hawkmon.
We nodded and followed the digimon in the direction of the village.
We traveled quickly and quietly as we could. I noticed movements beside and behind us. I began to feel frightened, thinking that we were surrounded.
After a while, we arrived at the gates of a large walls. The doors were wide open and inside we could see small huts and a few long houses.
"Who goes there?" called a gruff voice from the side of the opening.
A large, wide set man stepped out in front of the opening.
"Who are you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
We didn't answer. We were too intimidated by the size of the man.
"Why, you're just a bunch of kids!" he stated. "Come on, get in before you get jumped by Cheetahs." He said, stepping aside.
"Thank you." We said and moved pass him into the village.
People moved about busily in the fortress. There were women skinning animals and cleaning the pelts, children played in the small roadway with little dogs and toys.
"What is this place? I've never seen anything like this in the digital world before." Said Cody.
"These people migrated here when Shadow opened the portal between their world and ours." Explained Patamon.
"So, what are your names?" asked the large man.
"I'm Davis, sir. And this is Yolie, Ken, Cody, Kari, T.K, and Sonya." Davis introduced.
"And I suppose these are your little creature friends?" the man asked, looking down at the digimon.
"Yeah. They're –"
"I'm not interested in their names. I just want to make sure they're yours and not wild." Said the man, raising his hand.
"What do you mean?" asked Yolie.
"I understand that these creature you call digimon were once peaceful, but since Shadow's reign many of them have gone wild. It's my job to be sure that nothing dangerous passes through the gates." The man explained.
"Well, thank you for letting us in." said Ken. "I think we were being followed out there."
"By what?" asked the man.
"Not sure, but I felt it too." I said.
The man looked at me hard.
"You seem familiar, girl. You've been here before?"
"No, this is our first time to the plains." I said, wondering what he was talking about.
He looked at my eyes for a long time. I didn't hold his gaze, I looked at the others for an explanation, but received confused shrugs.
"Taurus, Leave them be." Came an old voice from behind the large man.
"My apologies, Hyperion." Said the man, stepping aside.
An old, grey haired man walked up to us. His robes were beige and white, and his body was slightly bent. He carried himself on an oak staff with a white jewel centered on the tip. His eyes were a stormy gray color.
"My name is Hyperion, the elder and priest of the Koryn. And who might you be?" he asked kindly.
"Uh, do I have to say our names again?" asked Davis, sagging his shoulders.
The old man chuckled.
"You must be the digidestined? My, I knew that the fates chose young people, but I never would have guessed children! You must have been up against much before our meeting." Said Hyperion, a light glinting in his eye.
"Yeah, we're had many battles before now. How did you know?" Asked Ken.
"I've heard of you. I know that you have fought great battles with evil creatures such as Arukenimon, BlackWarGreymon, and MaloMyotismon, am I correct?" asked Hyperion.
We nodded.
"And some of you have fought with Devimon, Myotismon, and Apocalymon." He continued, looking at me and Kari. We smiled.
"I have seen you in stories written on the temple walls around this world." He said. His voice sounded ancient and wise as he spoke. He then looked over at Sonya.
"As for you, I've never seen your face in the temples here." Hyperion said curiously.
"She's new. This is pretty much her first time on a mission here." Said T.K.
"As it would seem. I suppose you and your creature friends are here to learn more about Shadow?" asked Hyperion.
"Yeah. The more we know about him, the sooner we can defeat him." Said Davis confidently.
Hyperion chuckled.
"Well then, Come! I will tell you what I know of Shadow." Hyperion led us through the huts to what we guessed would be his hut, house, temple, whatever he lived in.
We smiled as we watched the children play with their dogs and toys. It was so peaceful in this village. A group of men sat by a fire ring, cleaning out fish and rabbits. The women wove clothes and blankets for their families.
It was a sweet and refreshing sight from the havoc we've seen in this digital world before.
We finally reached a tall, circular stone hut with a straw roof. He ushered us through the door and opened the windows for lighting.
It was a one room hut with a bed off the far side, a table in the center, and fire place and kitchen area to our left, and ornaments and plants in every which-way direction.
He had us sit at the circular table.
"Before I begin, what do you know about Shadow already?" Hyperion asked.
"We don't know very much. We haven't seen him in person yet." Said Davis.
"We just know about his plans." Cody added.
"We also know that he had opened a kind of rift form his world to this one." Yolie stated.
"And we know that he brought a bunch of creatures to build some sort of army." Ken finished.
"Well, then. It seems you know much, but not all of it is true. I'm sensing some doubt among you, as well. Would you like to explain dear?" Hyperion looked at me in particular. I felt alarmed that he knew I had seen through Megara's lie, and I was greatly disturbed by it. If he knew that, what else did he know?
I crossed my arms and looked away from everyone else.
"Megara was lying to us. She never would have monologue that easily. They're not simply planning world domination. There's something else, and I know you know it." I looked back at them finally.
Yolie placed her shin in her hand.
"I guessed that, too. But it was all we had to go on." She said.
"We had nothing to go on. They may be building an army, but not for the reasons she told us. They be planning domination over the worlds, but it's not as cliché as that. They are more original. There's obviously something else going on." I said. I felt Karakin trying to take over my speech, making my voice strain and sound angry. I pushed her back and looked at Hyperion, who was studying me carefully.
'Again with the staring.' said Karakin in my head.
"What?" I asked.
"A very good observation, little lady. And she's right. Shadow and Megara are not as they seem." Hyperion looked around at us.
"Shadow was once a man with a home, a family, a home. His name was Issac Runner, a well known medicine man from the White Plains of our world." He said.
"What happened?" asked Yolie.
"He lost everything. He lost his home and he became angry, he lost his wife and son and he went mad. He lost his life, and that was what set him off. The man made a deal, you see. He made a deal with the Dark one, his soul for the power to overtake the ones who caused his pain. He grew hungry for the power, and began using it for his own greed. In the end, Shadow ended up turning on the Dark one and vanquished the army that was sent after him. He has been like this since." explained Hyperion.
"Whoa." We stared.
"The skies are dark from his sorrow. His heart was rejected by the light, so he rejects the light in return." Hyperion continued. "He's said strange things in his madness. He says he wants a 'perfect world', and he is to rid the worlds of the darkness that took everything away from him."
"But that doesn't make sense. He's using darkness to harm others!" Davis protested.
"He is far beyond logic or reason. The darkness has surrounded him for such a number of years that his heart has grown with it. He no longer knows the boundary between good and evil. He believes that his work is that of greatness. His soul is no longer in reach, I'm afraid." Hyperion looked down sadly.
"How can we stop him?" asked T.K after a while.
Hyperion smiled at T.K.
"Alas, I know not of his weaknesses. But I agree. You must stop him at all costs. His madness has damaged many worlds and destroyed many lives." He said.
We nodded.
"I cannot help you any further, I'm afraid. But I'm sure that if you visit the other villages, you will learn more from each of the other elders." Said Hyperion, standing up.
"Well, that explains the whack-job." Said Davis.
"What about his plans? We need to learn more about what he's up to." Said Cody.
"Again, I don't know. Now the, that's all I can tell you." Said Hyperion regrettably. "Would any of you like food? Or perhaps you are thirsty?" asked the old man cheerfully.
I sighed as everyone else smiled and accepted the offer.
"Well then, I'll introduce you to the village Lady. She handles the women's work and assures that things go accordingly. She is an exceptional chief." Said Hyperion as he walked out the door.
We got up and followed him through the village once more. We wound down another path to a tidy little shack by the fortress wall. There was smoke coming from the little chimney at the top. Hyperion knocked on the door with the handle of his staff. The door was opened by a tall, thin, pale woman with long silvery hair and pointed ears. Her face resembled a pixie's and her eyes were a solid sapphire color. She looked like a large faerie from my point of view.
"Adrella, would you so kindly prepare food for our young travelers' journey? I assume they will need it." Hyperion requested.
"Of course." She said with a smile and disappeared back into the shack. She returned with an apron and walked to the fire ring near-by.
A man ran to Hyperion and whispered something in his ear, making him sigh.
"Forgive me. I must take my leave. Digidestined, good luck. We will be happy to help you in anyway in the future." Said Hyperion and left.
"Thank you!" Yolie waved.
"Do you need any help?" asked Davis.
"Why yes, thank you. I've never been good with fire." Said Adrella.
Davis grinned and pulled out his digivice for Veemon to digivolve. Veemon was surrounded by his light, then replaced with Flamedramon and set fire to the ring.
Adrella watched in awe.
"Why, you must be one of the digimon Hyperion goes on about." She said with a smile. "And you must be the digidestined?"
"Yeah. My name's -"
"He's Davis. I'm Kari, this is T.K, Cody, Ken, Yolie and Sonya." I said, pointing us out quickly and feeling irritated with the long introduction for the third time that day.
"Uh-huh. I've seen you before at the temples. You're legends, you know." She said, holding her knees to her chest briefly, then starting on the food. She pulled out a few slabs of cleaned fish and began cooking them over the fire with a cast iron pan.
"Now, father may say I'm a good chief, but really I'm just learning, so forgive me if this turns out burned." She said sheepishly as she flipped the fish.
"It's okay, really." Said Yolie.
"Perhaps I could help then." Said Sonya quietly and sat beside Adrella.
The others looked at Sonya with a little surprise.
"She talks!" said Davis.
"Yeah, that's what I said." I agreed.
Sonya smiled apologetically, showing her pearly teeth, the set back to helping Adrella.
"Hyperion is your dad?" asked Cody.
"Yes. He's a mage and my m,others was an elf." Adrella.
"So Kari, you knew that Megara was lying to us?" asked Ken.
"Yeah."
"Why didn't you say anything?" they looked at me.
"I chose not to." I said, not looking at them.
"Why?" asked Cody.
"No reason."
Gatomon looked at me strangely, as did the other digimon.
"What? Why is everyone looking at me like that?" I shouted.
Flamedramon looked away and reverted to Veemon.
"Sorry." they said.
"Kari, is there something wrong? You've been acting paranoid all week." Said T.K.
I crossed my arms.
"Have not." I said, looking at the fire.
Sonya had the pan in her hands and was flipping the fish expertly. She handed the pan to Adrella, who mimicked Sonya's previous movements.
"You have done this many times before I see." Adrella laughed at her own clumsy attempt to flip the meat.
"I've been doing this since I was young." Sonya answered.
There was a roar from outside the fortress. Everyone turned to look.
"The lions must be at the gate." Said Adrella.
"Blood Harvesters?" asked Yolie.
"Yes. They come here frequently. Sometimes to trade, but sometimes they're not so friendly."
"So, you trade with hem? What do they want?" asked Cody.
"Supplies, food, equipment. Not very much, actually." Said Adrella as she stirred the fire.
"They can get some of that from the woods, though. Right?" asked Veemon.
"Yes. That's why we're so unnerved around them. Why are they asking for items they don't necessarily need?" Adrella finished wrapping the fish in a small bag and tied it off and gave it to Sonya.
"Thank you for helping." Adrella smiled.
"Thank you for the food." Said T.K.
We said our goodbyes and headed for the gate.
"We need to be careful when we get to the gates in case the Harvesters are still there." Said Hawkmon.
We rounded the corner leading to the main gates and we stopped. Several feet away was the lion that we had encountered our last visit. The lion with the crown under its eye. He was watching a man nervously stack several crates together, tripping and stumbling on the way. The Lion didn't speak, just stared as though seeing everything that went on around him.
We walked a little closer, hoping to get passed him without any trouble. However, he shifted his gaze over to us and locked eyes with us.
His great, forest tinted eyes searched us unblinkingly.
"And this is the last of the stock, sir." Said the nervous man. The lion didn't answer. He turned and walked over to us slowly, making careful steps in the grass and dust.
The digimon stepped in front of us protectively, but it didn't affect the lion at all. He stopped a few feet from us and looked us in the eyes.
"You fight well, lads." He said finally. His voice was thick with a Scottish accent.
"W-what?" Davis stuttered.
"You put up a well drawn fight on the lake. I congratulate you. But don't think you can beat us every time. I recommend that you go home before night falls." Said the lion. He turned to leave, but looked at me first, nodded his head, then returned to the crates.
We stood there bewildered.
"Well, he's a pretty good sport." Said Yolie.
I watched him take the crates easily on his shoulder and leave.
For some reason, right then, he didn't seem very much like a bad guy to me.
I was left to ponder this as we agreed to head back to the portal.
"Are you coming with us?" asked Davis as we walked through the plains.
"Yeah! I miss your smelly room!" said Veemon.
"Hey! It's not that bad." Davis protested. We all laughed.
I saw a flicker in the corner of my eye and looked up at one of the small plateau. I saw a Blood Harvester standing there and staring at us. It was a female Cheetah from the look of it. It had hair like a human's on it's head that was short and spiked downward slightly. Her burning golden eyes pierced through my red ones. I looked back at the group to find that we were at the portal. I looked back at the Harvester only to find that she was gone.
We were sucked through the portal to the real world and set off for home.
I carried a sleeping Gatomon in my arms. I smiled down at her gently.
'She's quite a lovely cat.' Said Karakin.
"Isn't she?" I answered.
'When you get home, I want to show you something.'
I nodded and continued through the small crowds on the street to my apartment.
I entered the elevator and sighed. I was tired from the events that took place earlier. Who was the lion exactly? He seemed friendlier than what Gennai had described. He didn't seem like a monster, but like someone who just liked to win, and was even a good sport when he lost.
The doors were pried open by Gayle, who was huffing heavily as she stepped onto the elevator.
"Hi Kari." She grinned and stood beside me.
"What's with you?" I asked.
"Running late. Leiko said that Ginger, the lady who's watching us, would ground me if I were later than 6:30." Gayle explained.
"Well, it's 6:15, so you've made pretty good time." I said.
"Soccer does that for you. Our coach made us do liners twice a day for reasons like this." Said Gayle, standing strait and breathing normally now.
"incase you're late and don't want to get grounded?" I joked.
"In a way, only more for our games. If we're late to one, we get three happy laps, two liners, and he makes the whole team sprint Indian laps." Gayle sighed.
I raised an eyebrow.
Gayle looked over at Gatomon.
"Oh! What a cute kitty!" she said, then noticed she was sleeping and lowered her voice.
"I didn't know you had a cat. What's her name?" she asked.
"Gatomon." I answered absentmindedly.
"Gatomon. Strange name, but I like it!" the elevator stopped on the 13th floor and Gayle walked off. She turned, waved goodbye, and set off running down the hall to her apartment. I shook my head and continued further up the building. It finally stopped at the 16th floor and I stepped off and walked to my own apartment.
I opened the door to find the lights out and no one home. I turned on the lights, set Gatomon down on the couch to sleep, and went to my room to change.
'Shut the door behind you. I don't want Gatomon coming in.' said Karakin. This startled me and made me jump, making my heart race very quickly. I shut the door behind me and the lights switched on their own. Karakin was crouched beside the rug on the floor, waiting for me to come over. I stepped closer and she pulled back the rug to reveal the Pentacle she burned into the wood weeks before.
I had forgotten about it and I wondered why she wanted to show me.
"Come here." She said. " step in the middle."
I did as she said and stood in the eye center of the pentacle.
Karakin stood in front of me outside of the pentacle. Her red eyes glinted with an invisible light.
From her pocket, she pulled out a handful of items and began placing them on the five points of the star. On the first, she placed a small handful of canine teeth, a cat's paw on another point, then a rib bone, a black stone, and finally a small black bush. She traced a circle around each one as she placed them on the points. I watched her in bewilderment.
She stood in front not me once more and held her palms out to me. I touched them with my own and a searing hot sensation ran through my body as though I were on fire.
I found myself on my knees, bent over from the heat. My muscles then suddenly began to relax and I closed my eyes. Everything was dark, then a figure appeared. It was a puppet attached to a series of strings. The puppet was old and the colors and face were to worn for me to make out any details. It was a girl, though, with a black dress and brown hair. The she moved around, fighting the strings, but never could get them off. She finally looked up to the never ending stings and stopped. She resisted everything the strings tried to make her do, she ever moved from there. The figure then distorted and became that of a blond. She was attached to strings as well, but not as many. She had one holding her body from the back, the rest of her was sagging sadly. She lifted her head to the sky, but then dropped it in submission. The string finally broke and she fell to the floor with a clatter. The lifeless puppet lay disfigured on the ground, then everything went black.
I opened my eyes and looked up at Karakin.
"What was that?" I asked.
"You may soon find out." Karakin answered. "This Pentacle will help you. Use it."
I looked down at the pentacle. The items had all burned to a crisp from a non-existent fire. Their ashes lay sadly on the dark floor.
"This will help me find out about Shadow and Megara?" I asked.
She nodded thoughtfully.
I looked down at the pentacle. There was something dark involved with this, but if it helps us, then Fine.
I thought back to the puppets; the brunette resisting the strings, and the blonde who was released at the price of its life.
This is pretty hard to read when you're not exactly into the series, isn't it 'Flint'? You know who you are.
Hope you enjoyed, and please, once again, review some more! It's makes me happy! It makes me smile! It makes me live through school! (It actually does...)
Laters, see ya next chappie!