Chapter 2
"Daisuke! Daisuke, honey, wake up!"
Daisuke opened his eyes slowly, yawning. "Yea, Mom, what is it?"
Emiko smiled slightly. "I hope you're feeling better now dear, you were falling asleep over your food this morning."
Daisuke nodded, stretching. "Yea, I really do. Thanks for making me take that nap, it really helped."
Emiko tilted her head. "Why were you so tired Dai? You don't usually have trouble with that."
"Dark and I were talking last night, about that experiment that Grandpa was talking about. I wanted to know what he thought of it, and so we stayed up talking about it. Neither of us got much sleep at all." Daisuke replied, climbing down from his bed.
Emiko nodded. "I see. What does Dark have to say about it?"
Daisuke smiled. "He feels the way that I do; what we have now is far too important to both of us to lose."
Emiko smiled. "I'm glad that you can both agree. Is Dark doing alright?"
Daisuke tilted his head, searching for Dark within his mind. He found the thief's soul curled in the back of his mind, a comforting warmth in his thoughts. "He's still sleeping; he must be just as tired as I am."
Emiko turned to leave the room. "Well then, let him sleep. I sent out a warning letter, and you have about 1 hour before you need to be there. I made some dinner, so if you wanted to come down and eat, it's all ready."
Daisuke nodded. "Thanks mom, I'll be down in a minute."
As the woman shut his door Daisuke reached into his closet, pulling out a clean shirt and tugging it on. He felt the warmth in his mind stir, and then grow still again as Dark settled back into sleep. Daisuke smiled slightly. 'Get your rest Dark, we've got a big night ahead of us… I wonder what mom's gonna have us get this time…'
Daisuke went downstairs, sitting at the table and happily digging into the dinner that Emiko had prepared. "Hey mom, what are we going after tonight?"
"It's called The Ties That Bind. It's an older artifact that wasn't made by the Hikari's, but it's still acting up quite a bit. It's a set of bracelets hooked together, and it's on display at the museum downtown. Your grandfather and I thought it best to get it now before it started getting any worse." Emiko replied as she took a bite of her own food.
Daisuke thought about it a minute, and then spoke. "I've never heard of that one before, when was it put there?"
"About a month ago Kosuke saw it, and thought that he should look into it. Not long after that a few people began to start mentioning that strange things were happening around it, and so I sent out the letter."
Daisuke nodded in understanding. It was a good idea to get it out before it really started affecting people, and before things got too out of hand. He and Dark would get it tonight, no problem.
A small bundle of white fur jumped into his lap, and he looked down into Wiz's glowing red eyes. The redhead smiled, holding down a bit of strawberry for the creature. Wiz let out a happy 'kyuu' and immediately gobbled down the treat. Daisuke petted his head, smiling. "Are you ready for the thieving tonight Wiz?"
"Kyuu!"
Daisuke smiled again, and at that moment he felt Dark stir deep within his mind, and then there was a tentative touch on his soul. Daisuke smiled, turning his attention inward for a minute. 'Sleep well Dark?'
Daisuke waited while the thief stretched himself, and then there was a soft reply. "Yes, I did. How long was I out?"
Daisuke glanced at the clock, considering. 'Well, you went to sleep a little after I did, so I would say about… Five hours or so.'
Dark settled back into Daisuke's mind, stilling his movements. "Wow, I didn't think I was that tired… So what's going on tonight? I heard something about it, but I was still half-asleep."
'Mom sent out another warning letter. We've got about a half an hour, so we'd better get ready. Would you like to switch now, or would you rather wait?' Daisuke asked, glancing at Emiko as she watched him. The woman knew what was going on, so she was silent, waiting for Daisuke to complete his conversation.
"Um, yea, go ahead. I suppose I could use that time to get a little more comfortable before the thieving. If it's okay with you, that is." Dark replied, shifting farther forward in Daisuke's consciousness.
Daisuke relinquished control to the thief, and Emiko jumped slightly as the redhead's body transformed a little unexpectedly. Dark stretched as soon as he had full control, adjusting his shirt. He and Daisuke were now about the same size, so he didn't have to worry about being in clothes that were too small now.
Emiko smiled at her other son. "Evening Dark. Are you feeling better now? Daisuke said that you were tired."
Dark smiled and nodded at the woman. "Yea, I am, thanks. So, what am I going after?"
Emiko glanced at her watch. "Daisuke can fill you in; you're going to be late if you don't leave soon. Go get dressed, and then get going. Daisuke will tell you where to go."
Dark nodded, standing and pressing a kiss to Emiko's cheek. "Thanks Mom." He then turned and left the room, going up the stairs.
Emiko smiled. "You're welcome, dear…"
111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
Dark slipped through the police's defenses just as easily as he always had, sneaking in right under their noses. While they tried to figure out where he was, Dark slipped through the halls of the museum, heading towards the exhibit that held The Ties That Bind.
He stopped to admire the object before carefully disabling the defense system and taking it from its case. As soon as Dark started to turn, he heard an all too familiar voice. "Well Dark, it has been quite some time…"
Dark turned with his trademark cocky grin on his face. "Well, Mr. Chief Commander, I was wondering when you were going to show up. I was almost worried that you were going to pull a 'no-show!'"
Satoshi smirked in his calm and quiet way, and then started towards the thief. "Oh don't worry, Dark, I won't leave you waiting."
Dark smirked again, and then raised his head. "Wiz!"
The small creature came bounding into sight, but was suddenly stopped in place. 'Kyuu'ing worriedly, Wiz tried again with the same result. Dark blinked, and then looked to Satoshi, who still had his calm smile in place. "Well, you cannot get your familiar, what will you do now Dark?"
Dark growled softly, and then, not thinking about it, thrust the bracelets in his hand onto his right wrist, not wanting them to be in the way. He then took off at a run for where Wiz was, hoping that he would be able to get through when Wiz could not. Satoshi sprang for him, but stopped as he let out a cry and clutched at his chest.
Dark sighed in relief. 'Never thought I'd be glad to have Krad interfere…'
Daisuke's soft agreement echoed in his mind. "You can say that again. For once he's proved helpful."
Dark darted outside of the field, and Wiz immediately leapt to his side, transforming and attaching himself to Dark's back. The thief leapt into the air, flapping his large wings and shooting through an open window and into a rainy sky. 'It wasn't raining when we got here…' Dark grumbled. 'I hate flying in the rain…'
Daisuke's laugh was quiet and soft in his mind. "Don't complain too much Dark; it's not that big of a deal. At least we got the artwork, and got away without too much trouble. I'm glad; I don't know if you could have dealt with it, I can still feel that you're tired."
Dark snorted slightly. 'Yea right, I could have taken him. I just saw the chance to not get into too much trouble, so I took it.'
"Sure, you believe that, but I know better…"
'Why you little… Maybe I should just keep control for a while, just to get you back for that.' Dark said good-naturedly, shifting his wings slightly to fight against the driving rain.
Daisuke snorted. "Oh sure, do what you want, I don't… Dark, WATCH OUT!"
Dark turned his attention outward a split second too late. Lightning flashed, and then the world went black.
1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
Daisuke, however, remained conscious, he barely felt any pain, and when he opened his eyes, he didn't see any burns on himself. He was still flying, and he could feel Wiz holding onto his back as the creature flew of his own accord. Daisuke looked down to see Dark's limp body falling rapidly through the air, hurtling towards the ground.
Daisuke screamed, and Wiz responded to him, angling and flying down. Daisuke reached out, grabbing Dark's hand and pulling the thief's limp body to him, clutching him close. As Wiz flew towards the Niwa house, Daisuke looked Dark over, a little surprised to see a bracelet still encircling the thief's wrist. In fact, that was the only thing the thief was wearing, he was completely naked.
Daisuke did the best he could to keep Dark sheltered while Wiz flew, looking down at his own wrist, seeing the other half of The Ties That Bind encircling his own wrist. He reached to touch it, but it crumbled upon impact, and Dark's instantly did the same. Daisuke shuddered slightly, clutching the unconscious thief closer and trying to keep him safe from the driving rain.