Chapter 2: Desert
Koushiro walked almost the entire night, with Tentomon flying at his side. They made some quick pauses to rest. When the sun was about to rise, Tentomon suggested they should find some place to sleep. Koushiro agreed since it was not a good idea to walk under the hot sun of the desert without water or food.
"We should go look for an oasis. Do you think you can evolve?" Koushiro asked a bit worried.
"Yes, I'm not that tired." Tentomon replied, evolving to Kabuterimon. They searched for an oasis for some hours. Even if Kabuterimon didn't complain, Koushiro knew he had to be tired. The long search was making the boy anxious. How long can Kabuterimon keep flying?
Fortunately, they found a small oasis with a lake, surrounded by trees with fruits. When they landed, Kabuterimon went back to his child form. After eating and drinking water, Tentomon lay under the shadow of a tree.
"Koushiro-han, you should get some sleep too. Plus, you haven't eaten much." He told the other, who was collecting some fruits and putting them into an improvised leaf bag.
"Don't worry about that. I'm planning on staying awake while you sleep, just in case some dangerous Digimon shows up." Koushiro said calmly.
"But... you're tired too..." Tentomon tried to protest. Koushiro interrupted him politely.
"Don't worry, I can sleep later." The boy said with a soft smile, which didn't really convince Tentomon.
"Okay, but wake me up soon, so you can sleep a little before we get moving." The bug told the boy. Koushiro did nothing more than agree with a weak smile.
This feeling again... sometimes I wanted to be able to read Koushiro-han's mind. I'd like him not to hide things from me.
After Tentomon slept, Koushiro took a yellow fruit that he had never seen before and ate it. It tastes good.He stared at the leaf bag thoughtfully. Even if I split the fruits in two bags for me and Tentomon, it won't be possible to carry many of them. Maybe we could do it with Kabuterimon... no, evolution would be too exhaustive for Tentomon, especially without a guarantee that we'll find another oasis soon.
The boy held his head with both hands. We can't carry too many fruits and we may not find more soon. The only option is to ration food.
Koushiro glanced at the asleep Tentomon with guilt. It's my fault that we're in this situation now, just because I couldn't get that phrase out of my head. Am I losing my mind or what? I didn't even have courage to tell Tentomon what motivated me to choose this path! We might actually end up dying in this desert because of me.
The words he had heard from Yamato were haunting him again. Luck... this time I can't count on luck. I have to take the responsibility... especially for Tentomon's sake.
When Tentomon woke up, it was already the end of the afternoon.
"Koushiro-han! You were supposed to wake me up, it's already getting dark!" Tentomon spoke angrily. Koushiro was sitting next to him.
"Sorry, Tentomon, I kind of fell asleep after you slept, and I've just woken up a few minutes ago. I didn't mean to do that, I'm really sorry." Koushiro lied. He hadn't slept at all. Tentomon needed to sleep and I couldn't let someone dangerous attack us... I couldn't sleep.
Koushiro bowed politely, without really looking at Tentomon's eyes, which the insect noticed. The two of them walked forward the entire night and Tentomon realized that Koushiro was slower than he used to be. After some hours, they stopped to eat some of the fruits they had been carrying in leaf bags. The redhead took a small orange fruit while his partner took three big red ones.
"Koushiro-han, are you going to eat only that?" Tentomon asked worried, the boy forced a smiled and answered:
"I'm not that hungry, don't worry."
Tentomon didn't know what to do; he stared sadly at the boy. "Okay, then. But promise me you'll eat more when the sun rises."
"Okay."
When the sun rose, Tentomon evolved to Kabuterimon to look for a new oasis. Koushiro climbed on his friend's head before he flew. They searched for several hours, but there was no sight of any oasis. Koushiro could barely keep his eyes opened. He was almost fainting because of the hunger, but he didn't want to touch the fruits next to him. Tentomon needs them more than I do... he's the one who's always carrying me and taking care of me, he needs them more than I do... especially if we don't find more food... I must save the fruits for him..."
Uhm? What is that thing coming to us? A sand storm?Kabuterimon couldn't believe in what he was seeing. The sand storm was huge and had appeared suddenly in front of them. There wasn't any way to escape.
"KOUSHIRO-HAN, HOLD ON THERE!" He yelled to the boy a few seconds before the storm stroke them. Without energy to hold on Kabuterimon, Koushiro was thrown by the wind.
What happened?The boy wondered when he woke up on the hot sand, 20 minutes later. There was no sign of the digimon or the fruits, for Koushiro's despair.
"Damn it, damn it... This can't be happening! TENTOMON!" Koushiro called the bug, getting on his feet with difficulty and forcing himself to walk, even though his entire body was trembling. Soon, he heard Tentomon's voice at the distance. He went over that direction and found his friend stuck in a strange brown plant with thorns.
"Tentomon! I'm going to free you right now!"
"Be cautious, Koushiro-han... this plant is the 'desert urtiga,' it has a poison that paralyzes you... don't touch the thorns."
"What?" Koushiro's eyes widened in fear. Tentomon had been visibly hurt by the thorns, so he must have been affected by the poison. With caution, the boy managed to free Tentomon, who wasn't able to move anymore.
"This poison... does it only paralyze you or...?"
"Without the antidote... I'll probably die by the sunset." Tentomon whispered. He saw the boy's face turning pale and panic appearing in his eyes, which made him feel terrible.
"Koushiro-han, you have to leave me behind-" Tentomon was saying, but Koushiro grabbed him and put the bug on his back, starting to walk again.
"I'm not going to abandon you here. We'll find the antidote and heal you."
"You don't even know what the antidote is."
"I'll ask someone, if we find a village, we can-"
"Koushiro-han, stop doing this! If there was any village nearby, we'd have seen it while we were in the sky!"
The human didn't reply. He kept moving slowly with Tentomon on his back.
"You're smart, Koushiro-han. A lot smarter than me. If even I realized that you can't help me, you must understand it too."
"I'll find a way..."
"Why are you doing this? Why are you lying to me and to yourself like this? I beg you, leave me behind." Tentomon began to cry, completely impotent. Koushiro kept walking forward. Tentomon is so heavy... has he always been this heavy or is it just because I haven't eaten or slept properly? I sacrificed myself to save that food and it's all gone. Tentomon is injured and I'm the only one who can help him... but I'm so tired... and it's so hot here... I'm hungry and thirsty... I don't know for how long I can keep walking. I'm like this now because I wanted to help him... and now I can't. I'm so pathetic.
After one hour, Koushiro fell on the sand. He tried to get up, to move, but it was impossible. He had reached his limit. Move, Tentomon needs me... move... I have to continue... I can't fail... I can't fail...
"K-Koushiro-han, talk to me, please, talk to me... are you alright?" Tentomon asked in a very weak voice. All he could hear was the other's sobs.
"Sorry... s-sorry... this is my fault... sorry..." Koushiro began to whisper among sobs.
"Stop saying this, you've done nothing wrong." Tentomon tried to comfort Koushiro, feeling his own heart cracking. I was supposed to protect him. It was my responsibility to protect Koushiro-han... to take care of him... I'm so useless.
Tentomon began to cry again, hearing Koushiro apologizing, unable to reply anything anymore. The hours passed and they both collapsed, Tentomon was still on the boy's back.
"Boy." After what felt like decades, Koushiro heard a voice calling him, but he was unable to open his eyes.
"If you want it, I can save you and your friend."
Save us? Really? Koushiro thought he was dreaming.
"If you pay the price, I can do that. Are you willing to pay it?"
In an almost inaudible whisper, Koushiro said a weak "yes."
Excellent, the other thought, satisfied. You belong to me now, Koushiro.