Chapter 11: Why Does the Sand Fall?
TK left with a worried look on his face. We were all having a rough day, and Izzy was right in saying that we needed rest. Still, I didn't feel right leaving Will there without making sure he was okay. I walked past Gatomon, who had fallen asleep on one of the desks, and over to Will. He was holding Dremon in his arms and staring off into the sky. He still didn't realize that I hadn't left yet.
"Who's Shark?" I asked quietly, almost whispering so as not to disturb him. He looked over to me, surprised that I was there, and that I'd heard him. Then he looked down at Dremon and petted him softly.
"Shark was a member of my group. He was a really good friend. I was only ten when we all got taken to the digital world, and he looked after me," Will explained. "I guess we had something in common or something, but Shark was there for me when . . . never mind. It doesn't matter now."
He looked back to the sky, apparently remembering his old friend. I sat down next to him and stared with him, wondering what could be going through his head. Did he think we hated him? I certainly hoped not. I thought he must be feeling really lonely. All of his friends were still in America, and we had only known him for a short time. After what had just happened, he probably didn't think we would be his friends any more.
Outside, it started to snow. At first only small flurries, but it slowly transformed into a torrent of large, slow-falling flakes which made the scenery begin to whiten. The slow transformation as the snow began to take hold was amazing to watch.
"Don't you think the snow is pretty?" I asked him.
"I guess it is," he replied. "I lived in a really snowy town though. We've had blizzards that people have died in, though not in my life time. Snow's nice, but it can be a nuisance."
"I guess I didn't think of that," I replied. "But let's try to look on the bright side. There've been enough bad thoughts for one day." He gave me a look that went straight through me, chilling me a little. I thought he was going to explode into a rant about how there was no bright side at the moment, but instead he just looked back to the sky.
"How about tomorrow you start teaching me English?" I offered. He looked at me again, but this time with a half-surprised, almost amused expression.
"You were serious about that?" he asked.
"Yeah, of course. I'm going to look into classes as soon as I get home. I've heard that it's good to be bilingual."
"Alright," he said, almost smiling. "Tomorrow I'll try to teach you the English Alphabet."
"Great! See, not everything's going bad."
The smile suddenly left his face, and he looked down at the ground. "Kari, can I show you something. It's really weird, but I think I can show you," he said slowly, almost sadly.
I hesitated at first, not sure what he was talking about, but I decided that it would probably ease his mind. "Sure, what is it?"
He pulled the dark crest out from under his shirt again and held it in his hand. He set Dremon down on a table without a word. Dremon seemed to understand that this was important and didn't protest. Then Will took my hand, and closed his eyes, squeezing his crest tightly. Slowly, the room began to fade away. Everything shifted gradually toward complete blackness. Then slowly, dark grays and shades of black began to form into a strange new place. Slowly, a new world took shape around us, and as the images solidified, I came to the startling realization that it was the Dark Ocean.
Water surrounded us on all sides. We were standing on a tiny sandbar, raised above the motionless water. The bar was roughly circular, and about thirty feet across. There was nothing on it, save the two of us, and nothing to be seen out over the still water except for the eerie grayish black sky.
"The Dark Ocean," I said, astonished to see it again. "Did you bring us here?"
"You've seen it before?" Will questioned, surprised.
"Yes, a few times," I said. I could feel the darkness all around. It was chilling me, and somehow permeating through my skin into my body, spreading a calm, reserved fear.
Will seemed very surprised that I had been there before. Apparently he thought that the Dark Ocean was something that only he could see through his crest. "That's strange. How'd you get here before?"
"I don't know really, it just happened," I said. Will sat down near the water, and he stared down at the sand. He picked a little bit up, and then dropped it, watching it intensely, as if he were searching for one specific grain.
"Why does it fall where it does?" he asked suddenly.
"What do you mean?" I asked, not understanding.
"The sand. Why does it fall where it does? Why doesn't this grain land an inch farther that way," he indicated a direction, "or that way? Why do these two land so close to each other, and these two so far apart?" He was quiet again, staring down at the sand. He picked up a small pinch of it between his thumb and index finger, and slowly sprinkled it back onto the bar. "Why does it land where it does?" he repeated. "Is there some mathematical formula? Can I use math to figure out where the sand will fall next time, or why it fell where it did? Is it all just random? I don't understand why."
I sat down next to him and stared at the sand, still unable to completely grasp what he was saying. I don't even think he understood the question. The darkness was eating at me even worse now. I could feel the cold pressing in around me, and I started to shiver. Will seemed unaffected, absorbed in his contemplation of sand. He started to pick some up again in his hand, but he noticed that I was shivering, and dropped it.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm just a little cold," I responded.
"Let's go back. I don't think I can find the answer I want tonight," Will said. He held his hand out, and I gripped it with mine, which was shaking from the cold feeling that the darkness gave me. He gripped his crest tightly with the other, and the bland scenery began its slow fade to black. The computer lab began to reform itself, and as we reappeared, I saw a very worried Gatomon, staring at us, and nearby a very scared looking Dremon.
"Kari what were you doing?" Gatomon asked. "I woke up and I couldn't find you anywhere, and this pip-squeak was no help."
"We went to the dark ocean," Will said simply. Gatomon stared at him, almost unbelieving. "My crest can take me there," Will explained.
Gatomon couldn't seem to find words. Or, if she did, she kept them to herself for the moment.
"Let's go home, Dremon," Will said to his digimon. "You need some sleep."
"I'm not that tired," Dremon complained as Will picked him up. He walked over to the door, then stopped and turned back towards me.
"If you could, could you not, uh . . ."
"Tell anyone," I finished for him. "Don't worry, I won't." He walked out of the room, leaving me and Gatomon standing by the windows. I said it more to ease his mind than anything. I had thought that he had been scared after he learned about TK's and my crests, but now I realized that he had been scared since he came here. He had been so hesitant to reveal that he was a digidestined, despite knowing that we were. There was something missing in the story, something that made him hide from us. Something that made him run away at the first sign of trouble. I thought that I might talk to Michael myself about what it could be. After all, they were close friends, having been in the same group of digidestined. I picked up my back pack and started the long walk home, Gatomon following me closely.
We walked in silence for a long time, which was unusual. There was nobody in sight, and we normally would talk about something. I knew Gatomon was worried, and as we neared my apartment, she finally broke the silence. "Kari, did you really go back to the Dark Ocean?" she asked.
"Yes, Gatomon. Will seems to be able to go there whenever he wants to," I said.
"Do you think that that's a good idea? The Dark Ocean has never been anything but trouble," she said.
"I know, but I think I needed to. I can't figure Will out, and for some reason he seems to have a strong connection with the Dark Ocean, and not just because of his crest. Besides, it reminded me what we're fighting for, to make sure that this world never becomes that world."
"I guess," Gatomon said. She wasn't convinced, but I think that she, like me, was tired and wanted to get some rest. We walked into the apartment, and Gatomon darted quickly into my room to get to sleep. I went to Tai's room, and found him online again, talking to Matt, Izzy, Joe, and Sora. Agumon was asleep in Tai's bed.
"What took you so long?" Tai asked, not looking away from the computer.
"I just walked slowly I guess. What do Sora and Joe think?"
"They both don't know what to think. They say that they want to meet Will tomorrow, but they're unsure of what the dark crest could mean. Joe thought that it could be a trick, but I reminded him that Michael and his group have had experience dealing with this kid. I think that Joe is of the opinion now that we need to get him away from our group, especially you and TK, since that seems to be the biggest problem. Sora says that she doesn't want to judge him until she's met him, but she admitted that the idea of a dark crest creeped her out a little." Tai leaned back in his chair. "Izzy found Tentomon, Biyomon, and Gomamon. He and Ken are going to go bring them here from the digital world before they meet us in the park. That way we'll have the entire team, except for Mimi and Palmon. But Mimi said that she was going to try to fly here. Come to think of it they should bring Palmon to the real world too. I'll email Izzy and tell him," Tai said as he started typing on the computer again.
"You know, I don't think that Will's really that bad of a kid. I think he's just scared." I said. Tai stopped typing, and spun around to look at me.
"I never said he was a bad kid. He's just stupid. He should have explained from the beginning why there was a problem, and then this mess could have been avoided."
"But don't you think there's a reason why he wasn't up front about it?"
"Yeah, I guess. I wouldn't be too proud to have a crest of darkness," Tai said.
"I think there's more than that. There's got to be," I declared adamantly.
"Do what you want, but just be careful. Remember, you've only known him for a day or two," Tai reminded me.
"I know, but I really think that we're missing some important piece to his story, and I'm gonna find out what it is."