Kari wandered slowly down the shoreline, scanning the horizons as she went. Now that I'm finally here, no one else is around. She couldn't quite make up her mind as to whether or not that was a good thing or a bad thing.
This world was still as disturbingly eccentric now as it had been five years ago. It still smelled like the ocean, but it was too quiet, too undisturbed. It was still bizarre, horrible, unnatural. She shuddered and wished she knew what to do next.
On impulse she walked over to the very edge of the disquietingly still water--there weren't even any waves breaking its glassy surface—and a peculiar temptation suddenly seized her, pressing her to shatter that placid mirror. She hesitated for a long moment, then bent and dipped the tips of her fingers into the water.
It felt as though it had some kind of electrical charge to it: a small shock ran through her as her fingers broke the smooth, dark surface, sending little ripples out to who knew where.
She quickly recoiled, for the water had a strange, oily texture and was very cold. Standing abruptly, she wiped her hand on her pants' leg; she didn't like to be in contact with even those tiny droplets of liquid from that Ocean.
Well, she thought, whoever called me here knows I'm here now, if they didn't know before. She took a few steps back to avoid the waves washing up—the water had at last started moving, and the tide was coming in. Did—did I do that? she wondered, moving back even further as the waves grew more aggressive, pounding the beach with their white-crested fists. She shuddered again, then stood quietly on the sandy shore, her eyes scanning the horizon, the eerily silent sea-breeze stirring her shoulder-length hair with its chill fingers as she waited.
Time seemed to have no importance in that strange, mist-shrouded world, so Kari didn't know how long she'd been standing there when she finally saw something, a dark smudge on the horizon flying low over the water. As it drew closer, she saw that it was an unfamiliar digimon, and it had a rather large something in it grasp, a capsule of some sort. Kari realized with a jolt that the digimon was heading straight towards her.
In a matter of minutes the digimon had reached the beach. It carefully set its burden down on the sand, then landed gracefully beside it. After tinkering with the pod for a moment, it turned to face her, examining her with its fierce gold eyes. Kari returned the beast's intense stare, looking it over carefully:
Covered with short white fur, it stood on its two hind feet, though it had a peculiar, half-hunched posture. Great white wings sprouted from its back, and its body was muscled but still slim. A thick purple band of fur wrapped around its thighs, and a double set of thinner bands encircled its narrow waist and forearms. Its tail was wispy, like that of a horse, its oversized feet clawed; its forefeet were also clawed, looking rather like the legs of some sort of bird of prey. Its proud eagle's head was held high, and two purple stripes were on each pronounced cheekbone beneath its piercing golden eyes.
Those eyes bored into her, but Kari met its stare bravely, unwaveringly; Tai had taught her long before that in certain situations being afraid didn't help, so courage was the best defense. Suddenly the creature spoke, its voice strong and sonorous, but also somehow gentle and almost sad.
"A child. A young, female child, delicate and beautiful." It cocked its head in a birdlike manner, as if trying to view her from a different angle. "Truthfully, you are not what I was expecting, but I can see why the Undersea Master wanted to bring you here." It sat back on its haunches, gazing down at her through lidded eyes. "You have much power, much strength, though most would not see it. Most would not know to look for it in such a frail creature . . ."
"Why does he want me here?" Kari asked, her voice sounding weak and thin after the white digimon's rich rolling tones. Fierce though its appearance might be, the girl liked this rather beautiful digimon and hoped to make friends.
The digimon stretched its great feathered wings and chuckled. "That question must be answered by the Undersea Master himself."
"Who is this 'Undersea Master' anyway?" she asked a little snappishly.
The digimon shifted uncomfortably, folding its wings in tightly, then replied softly, almost regretfully, "You will see soon enough, Child of Light. You will see soon enough."
Kari did not like that sound of this at all. She wondered once again what she'd gotten herself into, and if perhaps this hadn't been a mistake after all.
"Oh!" Her eyes widened. "I'm sorry," she said with a little bow. "I never introduced myself. My name's Kari Kamiya. What's yours?"
The white digimon drew itself up proudly. "I am Hippogriffonmon, an Ultimate-level digimon."
"Nice to meet you," Kari said with a warm smile and another little bow.
Hippogriffonmon did not reply; he just made an odd, half-strangled-sounding noise deep in his throat, and Kari went cold as she watched his once-clear golden eyes suddenly blazed forth the possessed red of a digimon controlled by another's will. But he's not— She stiffened as she noticed something very important, something she hadn't seen when she'd looked Hippogriffonmon over before, though now she wondered how she could have possibly missed it.
N-no way . . . I thought we destroyed all those!
For wrapped around Hippogriffonmon's upper arm was a Dark Spiral.
The symbols on the Spiral suddenly flashed in a strange, intricate pattern, the markings lighting up the same unsettling red as the digimon's eyes. "Come on," he said, his voice, which had been so kind moments before now harsh and impatient. "Get in." He gestured to the capsule, a slightly flattened spherical pod, its bottom half completely opaque and made of some dark metal; its top half, which was now raised on a hinge, was made of the same material, though transparent view ports made a studded ring around its point of widest circumference.
"Where are you going to take me?" Kari asked as she slowly walked towards the capsule.
"To the Undersea Master."
"Where is he?" She swung herself over the lip of the pod, sliding down into its bottom, which she found was filled with soft, sweet-smelling pillows. Sitting in the capsule's center with a pillow hugged tightly to her chest, she watched as Hippogriffonmon replaced the lid, fastening all the screws tightly.
"Under the Ocean," he grunted as he worked. "Very deep."
She heard the scrape of claws against the metal roof of her spherical prison, and the whole pod gave a sudden lurch as Hippogriffonmon leaped into the air, his powerful wings carrying them easily above the rather sinister-looking waves. Crawling over to one of the view ports, Kari watched the beach slowly getting smaller and smaller, until finally she could no longer see it anymore. With a little sigh, she crawled back to the center of the pod, returning to her favourite pillow. She clutched it tightly, wishing . . . wishing that T.K. . . .
"Why am I getting the silent treatment?" Hippogriffonmon's voice broke in on her thoughts. She noticed that his voice had lost its edge, and was soft and rich once more. "I can hear you through the pod, you know. It's a very light but very strong metal, perfect for all sorts of things."
"Sorry," Kari apologised. "I didn't know." Putting her face up against the glass, she looked up at Hippogriffonmon; just as she suspected, the eyes that looked back at her were golden once more, and contained a trace of amusement. "So, how far is this undersea city?"
"Not far now. Look over at that volcano, away to your right," the winged digimon directed. Kari did as he said, moving to another view port halfway around the capsule.
"Is there something special about it?" she asked, studying the ordinary-looking landmass.
"Yes. It is the back door to the Dark Master's undersea kingdom. For many years it was the way that non-marine digimon got to the city. The tunnel came out somewhere near the city's center." He gave a little sigh. "But it's closed now. Hasn't been used for years. I would be surprised if the volcano hasn't completely blocked off that tunnel by now." They were only a few hundred yards or so from the volcano now, and he lowered the capsule gently into the dark water, still hovering over it.
"Now what?" she asked, looking up at Hippogriffonmon. Then—"Hey!" Kari watched with alarm as the capsule began to sink—fast. "Wait!" she called to her escort, pressing up against the glass. The capsule was already halfway submerged, the waves lapping against the bottoms of the view ports. "If the entrance for non-marine digimon is closed, then how are you going to get down there?"
She heard the winged digimon chuckle softly as the obsidian-tinged water continued to rise quickly. "How? I must swim!" Then the water closed over the top of the view ports, and Kari was engulfed in a sudden, cold darkness. Slowly she sat down, back to the wall, and picked up her cushion once more, staring out at the dark, empty water surrounding her.
She continued to slowly sink, though it was hard to tell how fast she was moving since the water was already so dark. It had unexpectedly become very cold; Kari could see her breath crystallize before her in the frigid air. Suddenly the entire capsule gave a strange shudder. Rising to her knees, she peered out and noticed some digimon--Dolphmon they were called, she remembered--pushing and pulling her little craft along. All, she noted, were wearing Dark Rings.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something plunge into the water in an explosion of bubbles. The bubbles cleared and Kari saw that it was Hippogriffonmon. He glided quickly and easily through the water, powerfully muscled wings propelling him through the water just as smoothly they had through the air; as he swam past her, he gave her a reassuring wink. Then he dove swiftly down through the black-tinted water, soon disappearing from sight.
Where is he going? Kari wondered. She squinted, straining to see through the murky water. I don't see any city . . . Then they rounded the underwater base of the volcano, and she caught her breath at what lay before her.
It was beautiful. The many buildings looked like smoothed, sanded pieces of coral, and a clear bubble of some sort covered the whole thing, the transparent dome allowing the many lights of the city to illuminate the Ocean around it with its light . . . black light.
With an inward jolt Kari recalled the lighthouse that had been on the beach five years ago. It had hidden a control spire, and she and T.K. had destroyed it--but it had also given off black light, just like this city.
Thinking about that made her wish T.K. were there again . . . No, she pushed the thought away firmly. That's selfish to want him here. Remember, you did this to protect him, to make sure that he never had to come here!
Still, she couldn't rid herself of the ache that loneliness had buried deep inside. She shuddered, sitting back on her heels and watching apprehensively as the dark, yet eerily beautiful city slowly grew closer, until at last it filled the entire view port, the only thing Kari could see before her.
There could be no looking back now.
¤ ¤ - ¤ ¤
A/N: Hippogriffonmon is, in fact, an actual digimon; I did not make him up. Check the 'Digidex' at The Digital Empire page. It's an awesome site.