Chapter 26: How Far She'll Go
"It wasn't the careful lie,
Or the drawn-out pain,
But something more, buried in the past.
It was clear she wasn't going to fall,
Not so easily when she couldn't even stand;
It seems she'd rather dive headlong in,
And pray someone else can be strong."
Year: August 7, 2308
Location: Cave of Fusion, Digital World
"Greed, you look exhausted…was the trial run a success?"
"It seems so, she's absorbed in her research again…" The shark-hybrid cast a wary glance over his shoulder as Lust joined him in the back tunnel near their sleep-cave, she might have been older than him by roughly a year but she had only joined Pride a few years after the fall.
"Good, then maybe she'll leave us in peace for a bit…" Lust smiled as she embraced him, her tail curling up in delight as her bright eyes scanned the tunnel for any intruders. "You know we can't hope to stay here much longer, I know what those tokens are doing to us…" Her next words were barely a whisper as she rested her head on his shoulder.
"We're not going anywhere Lust, not as long as she lives…" Greed sighed as he slipped from her embrace, his fingers tracing along his digivice as his gaze drifted towards the main chamber.
"She doesn't control us…" Lust growled low as the cheetah slipped out, her claws at his cheeks now as she focused on his wary brown eyes, "Don't you trust me Shaun?"
Greed's eyes hardened at the use of his old name and he shook himself from her grip, "No, we're not getting on her bad side… I don't want to lose you too…" With that he slipped into the sleep-cave, leaving her to stare after him as she tried to process what had happened.
"I don't like this…" Lust sighed as she turned back to the exit tunnel, her claws clicking against each other as she watched the shadows, "We've been here too long…"
"I…I might know a way…" The voice was tentative as Envy slowly peered out from a side tunnel, her tawny tail curled nervously around her leg as she addressed the older DarkDestined.
"And what would a child know of this? You've yet to spend enough time in her company…" Lust hissed low but made no other sign of displeasure, her gaze shifting back to the sleep-cave a moment before returning to the child.
Envy slowly stepped out of the shadows and approached Lust, her voice dropping as she stepped closer, "There is a way…but we need to know how many will follow Pride first…"
Location: Nature's Wind, Americanus North Tri-Border
"Hey, don't hide…you're from the machine-land right?"
The little five-year-old trembled as she sensed the strangers coming closer, her eyes stayed locked on the cold stone under her bare feet while her partner elecmon stood protectively in front of her.
"We can't stay here much longer Strike; the curfew is about to start…"
"I don't care about the stupid machine curfew Jaz, we can just retreat back to the digital world anyway."
The girl carefully peeked a glance up as the boy approached. He was older than her with wilder hair and ragged clothes, a soft tan tag dangling over his stained shirt.
"Not going to speak? At least you could call off your partner, we're all digikids here…" He had stopped just shy of the bristling elecmon, his hands raised as a sign of peace as he watched her.
"Mmmm…" The sound was a bare mumble as she reached forward and wrapped her partner in a hug, her own tan tag visible now as she soothed the protective digimon.
"Strike we don't have time, we need to go now…" An older girl stepped in the narrow alley as she glared down at the boy, a hyokomon trailed nervously behind her.
"Settle down Jaz, you know what that machine-land is like…" Strike sighed as he crouched before her, his gaze straying to the identification bracelet that circled her left wrist, "Your name's Crystal then?"
"Crystal, get up already…it's your turn…"
Crystal shifted in the chair, her eyes blinking open slowly as she took in the table still covered in charts and maps from the previous day. She yawned and stretched as Ariel turned back to her own seat, "What time is it?"
"Almost time for breakfast, Strike headed up to the balcony to get some fresh air…" The neko dropped into her own chair and cocked her head back towards the younger destined, "Wake me if something else comes up…"
"Should've gotten me up earlier…" Crystal stood slowly and scanned the room a moment heading for the door, "Come on Leo, Talon…let's leave her to rest…"
In the kitchen, she found Rachel and Ryan setting the table, both smiled and nodded as she passed but neither offered a word as they busied themselves with the task at hand. Upstairs Lucy was playing with her partner while her brother looked on still half asleep. Crystal managed a faint smile as she maneuvered around the twins, glad some things were finally settling back to normalcy but she knew it wouldn't last.
Flare was the first to notice her as she finally stepped out onto the balcony, the tired digimon only recently digivolving back to coronamon. As far as they could tell Strike had cancelled the bio-merge at the last second, taking most of the virus himself though his partner was still weakened.
Strike turned to regard her at Flare's tugging, his normally bright green eyes now dull as his crest continued to pulse weakly. He managed a small smile but the pain was still clear, the wound visible at the center of the angry black lines that traced up to his jaw and down over his shoulder.
Crystal sighed and stepped forward as she placed her hand over the wound, her element cooling the inflamed skin as she slowed the venom again. Right now she knew this was all she could do and she was glad she had trained her element so much in the earlier days, now she could use it to give him as much time as possible to find a solution.
"Let me go you big meany! I want to see him now!"
Crystal snapped out of her thoughts at the commotion downstairs and turned quickly to investigate, Strike following a few paces behind as they dashed through the house to the center of the sudden noise.
"Gracie what are you doing here?" Rachel's voice was clear as she stood in the intruder's way, Feather beside her as they stared down the young neko crouched on the ground before them. The other younger destined were in a loose circle around this intruder, casting wary glances back as Crystal finally joined them.
Gracie glanced up suddenly and sprang, darting around the protective circle as she suddenly spotted Strike. She wrapped him around the waist in a tight hug, almost hanging off him as she glared at the others.
"Gracie!" Crystal turned quickly and caught her by the tail, pulling her back before they both fell over. A sudden movement to her left was stopped by her partners, both digimon pinning the tobucatmon down as Gracie's partner attempted to defend her.
"Stop it! I just want to see big brother!" The young feline thrashed as Crystal pinned her with a rough hug, grunting as the younger girl bared her fangs, "Put me down!"
Crystal sighed, warily watching Strike while she tried to get a better grip on the feline, "Rachel, you know enough…take the others on ahead, I'm sure breakfast is already ready…"
Rachel blinked, confused at being addressed so suddenly, then nodded and quickly herded the others towards the kitchen.
"Calm down Gracie, when did you get a core anyway?" Crystal waited until they left before dragging the unwelcomed visitor towards the backroom, nodding at Strike to follow as they retreated to the relative safety of the strategy room.
Once in the more private room Crystal released the feisty neko, sighing as she immediately latched onto Strike again, "Can you please cool it? Your brother is still ill and doesn't need you knocking him over…come on and sit…"
Gracie shied at first, her gaze wary as she ducked behind her brother but she finally consented to sit in the chair next to him. As she finally settled her partner slipped in and curled at her feet without a word.
"What's this commotion now? I was almost asleep…" Ariel yawned as she shifted in her chair to regard her sudden visitors.
"Sorry Ariel, this here is Strike's little sister Gracie… Now why are you here Gracie?" Crystal sighed again as she settled into her own chair, watching the young feline now as she uncovered the larger tabletop map.
"I…I just wanted to see big brother… Daddy gave me a core a few months ago and said I could explore on my own…but then the pigeons scattering…" tears prickled at the corners of her eyes as she curled into the seat to turn to her brother, "I was worried big brother… Mommy really wants you to come home too…"
"The nekos are finally moving then? It took them long enough…" Ariel yawned again and twisted in her seat to better reach the main map, her fingers tracing along the Americanus North coastline, "Where did we narrow our move down to?"
"The main base in Africaus or a smaller one we've yet to visit in the south…though pack territory might be safer for a while…" Crystal stood as she retrieved the smaller map they had marked the day before, using a dark blue pen to circle the three locations, "What do you think Strike? I'd rather avoid dealing with the packs but your mother is neutral right now…"
Ariel shoved a pad and pencil towards Strike, scarps of previous conversations scribbled on it, as her fingers trailed over to Africaus on the larger map, "Either way ocean transport would be faster…the waters between here and Africaus are machine-controlled but there are neutral trade lanes…"
Crystal watched as Strike added a fresh scribble to the pad before tossing it towards her, true it made planning more difficult but she was just glad he was still trying after whatever that venom had done to his head. She picked up the pad and skimmed through the new message, smiling suddenly, "We should check on them, Jaz hasn't sent word in years now…"