Hope's Fire Chapter 11, a digimon fanfic

A.N.: Well, after life rudely interrupted my week, I have finally been able to finish this chapter! It's been sitting, part complete, for days now. As though to make up for it though, this one is a bit longer! It really made no sense to do this as two sections - I think the flow is better this way, and it helps to move the story on a bit. It's also becoming a little more obvious to me that, much as the primary PoV is with Takeru, this story simply isn't going to work if I stick too hard to that. Although I haven't been able to write this week due to family commitments, I have been plotting, and I have a much better sense of the story now. So it's been a productive week, even if it doesn't look it!

I'm also going to go back and do a minor retcon with timings, in order to accommodate the worldbuilding that I've been doing. (Clearly I cannot help myself. Honestly, I write a fanfic because it means not getting sucked into my usual worldbuilding vortex, and then lo and behold! I manage to write a fic which involves worldbuilding.) Still. When I say minor, I mean that seriously - I'm changing the time Takeru's been waking up from 2am to 1am. Given how things are shaping up to work, that extra hour really didn't make much sense any more. Hopefully I will catch all the 2am mentions, but if it takes me a few passes, bear with me!

The forest – it was definitely too large to be called a wood – stretched out across a vast chunk of the horizon. Above the leaf canopy, the light was almost too bright to bear. With the rain gone, sunlight was breaking through the clouds in great beams, adding to the riot of colour. Takeru wondered if his eyes would ever adjust to it. Interestingly, the rain shower appeared to have only affected a narrow strip of land leading away from the coast – they were almost at its edge already.

It wasn't easy to orient himself without any way to tell which was north or south. Still, roughly behind him lay the ocean, stretching out as far as he could see. A large island seemed to lay offshore further along the beach, but other than that there were no distinctive features. In the other direction, the forest seemed to extend along the coast as far as he could see. In the distance, parallel to the shoreline, he thought he could make out what looked like a mountain range of some sort. The forest seemed to reach almost to its feet.

Where was the city that Yamato had mentioned? There certainly didn't seem to be any open ground for houses within sight. No wonder nothing showed up on his D3. They might be in the same world, but they were scattered to the winds.

"We might as well go down again for now," he said at last. "I don't think there's much to gain from being up here."

Pegasusmon shook his head. "We're not that far above the trees. Let me take us higher up first, to get a better view."

Takeru gripped his neck tighter. "Okay, but just remember that we might need you to digivolve again at some point, and we don't know where to find food. Don't use up all your energy now."

As they climbed higher into the air though, Takeru's concerns faded away. Despite the brightness that made it a little uncomfortable to look at, there was no denying the beauty it held. It was like something out of a picture. The forest stretched for mile after mile, but now he could see that it had an end, away in the opposite direction to that island. The mountain range which ran parallel to the ocean was clearer too – it was a ridge of barren stone, although not tall enough to be capped with snow. In the real world it would have looked wildly out of place and unnatural, but Takeru was accustomed enough to strange geography that he scarcely noted that fact.

More importantly was what he could see to the other edge of the forest. Just visible on the edge of the horizon was a dark smudge, surrounded by pale yellow. Could that be where his brother was? Inspiration struck, and he fished for his D-Terminal, taking his time in the cold, thinner air. He couldn't risk dropping it.

:Yamato, can you see any signs of a forest where you are?:

Either his brother would get the message or not. If he didn't hear back soon, he'd try relaying the message via Koushiro. His earlier communications suggested that the other boy had managed to get in touch with the others from the real world. Keeping in contact with one another had gotten a lot easier after Koushiro worked out how to modify the phones of the original Chosen Children to have similar functions to D-Terminals.

His eyes kept getting drawn back to that line of mountains. Hadn't Hikari said that she woke between cliffs and a forest? There was a chance she was somewhere in that direction. But where? It would take days to search along it, even with Pegasusmon and Nefertimon both in the air. This world was vast – every bit as large as the Digital one.

They could at least see that the line of the railway tracks stretched out into the distance. Presumably there would be further shelters along that path through the trees. A few miles off, it looked as though the track diverged. The trees seemed markedly thinner there.

Pegasusmon had begun to fly in the direction of the clearing before Takeru even had time to point it out. They were thinking the same thing again. It never took long.

By looking down as they followed the path of the railway, Takeru saw two more brick structures before they reached the clearing. It seemed that they were dotted all along the tracks. It was good to know that there were plenty of places he could shelter - now they just had to worry about finding food and water.

At last, four hooves clattered down onto stone. A small platform stood in the triangle where the tracks diverged, with a couple of benches and a sign so worn that the words could no longer be made out. What remained of the lettering didn't look to be in any language Takeru recognised anyway. He slid down from Pegasusmon's back, yawning, and resisted the temptation to rub his eyes. His face was sore enough already.

Behind him, a sudden glow marked a devolution back into Patamon, enough to cast shadows briefly. Takeru didn't look round – he was already on his way over to the nearest building, which looked like some sort of station. Perhaps there would be clues at least; there were clearly no people.

The door still hung on the hinges, and creaked ominously as he pushed it open. Patamon squeaked a protest and flew over, landing on his head.

"Don't wander off without me!" he said indignantly.

Takeru smiled. He didn't have the heart to tell Patamon that he was a little too tired for his head to be a perch. The building was light and airy inside, albeit far too bright. It certainly seemed like the interior of a train station, albeit a very old-fashioned one. A ticket office dominated one side, with benches around the other walls. Doorways led into three other rooms. Everything was coated in a thick layer of dust.

"This place is strange," Patamon said. "I don't like it."

"Me neither," Takeru replied. "I wonder what happened here. And how long ago it was."

They walked through the waiting room to the nearest doorway, which turned out to lead into an office. The chair sat a short way back from the desk, and sheets of paper were scattered across it and the floor. A clock hung on the wall, frozen at a little after ten past three.

Takeru shook his head quickly, accidentally dislodging Patamon in the process. He was getting increasingly drowsy. The little bit of sleep he'd snatched that evening wasn't enough. He looked back out into the waiting room, and frowned.

"No one's been here in years, right Patamon?"

"Well, it definitely looks like it's been abandoned a long time. And there are no footprints except yours..."

Takeru nodded, and walked back out into the larger room, heading for a bench in the corner. He swept as much of the dust away as he could, coughing as it filled the air in clouds. The seat was upholstered with leather. It had cracked a little, but still gave a little when he pressed it.

"I need to sleep, Patamon," he said, by way of an explanation. His partner was hovering in front of him, looking worried. "If... if we're going to be stuck here, we both need to be fighting fit. That means me too. I'm no good if I'm dead on my feet."

"You should send a message to Koushiro first."

Takeru groaned, and rubbed his forehead. "Right, of course. I should have thought of that." Yawning, he pulled the D-Terminal out again. There had been no reply from Yamato, which was troubling. Still, perhaps he could only get a link to the real world from here. He had to keep hoping that Yamato and Hikari were okay.

:Have found a building. It's empty, looks like a train station. Tired. Tried to call Yamato, but no reply. Want to know how he is, but can't stay awake much longer. Going to sleep. It seems safe here:

There. It would do. It would have to, because he certainly wasn't capable of typing anything else. His eyelids were growing heavy, dragging his head down with them. The bench wasn't particularly comfortable, but he was so exhausted he didn't care. He lay down with his legs dangling over the edge of the bench, and felt Patamon land in front of him, sitting by his stomach.

"I'll keep watch, Takeru," his partner said.

He was asleep before he could reply.

Saturday, 11:45pm

The Yagami residence was quiet. It had to be. Taichi and Hikari's parents hadn't minded one friend staying over, but they had drawn the line at two. Miyako had snuck in after Mr and Mrs Yagami had gone to bed, not long before 11pm.

Hikari and Taichi both looked exhausted. They had convened in Taichi's bedroom for the time being, rather than risk waiting out in the living room. Koushiro alternated between typing furiously and watching the others. It was good that Miyako had been able to sneak in. There was no way he would have been able to manage everything by himself.

The plan had been for Hikari and Miyako to be in Hikari's bedroom, so that the younger girl had some privacy to sleep. That plan had been thrown out a few hours previously, when they had been unable to get Miyako into the house openly. If there was still a chance that Taichi and Hikari could be safe that night, both siblings had agreed that it would be easier for their parents not to know. Which meant keeping a low profile. If the pair did get pulled in to the other world, it made no sense for Koushiro and Miyako to be stranded in different rooms.

"Taichi," Agumon said quietly. "You look like you need to rest."

Taichi shook his head rapidly, and rubbed at his eyes. "That's it Agumon. Time for you to go sit on the other side of the room. I don't want you getting pulled into this with no way home." His expression was firm. No matter what the others had said, Taichi hadn't budged on his insistence that his partner not get pulled in to the other world with him. It was the closest Koushiro had seen the pair get to a falling out.

Hikari yawned. "I don't think I can stay awake much longer," she said, leaning back against the wall. "I'm sorry Taichi."

Miyako stood awkwardly next to her. "Should I… is there anything I can do?" she asked, looking between Hikari and Koushiro. Tailmon was talking quietly to Agumon in the corner.

Koushiro hated how helpless he felt. The replies he'd had from Gennai so far were virtually useless - the only thing that either of them could confirm was that this world was neither the digital one nor another area of the Dark Ocean. Not ten minutes before, Taichi at least had been optimistic about holding out until 1am before he slept, but now both he and Hikari could scarcely keep their eyes open. It had the ring of something unnatural about it. More questions which needed answers.

The clock on his laptop marked it as being ten minutes until midnight. He was ten minutes away from confirming his first theory about the whole thing, but for once he felt no pleasure at all about the prospect of information. He had seen the expression on Yamato's face as Takeru fell out of thin air in front of them all. It wasn't something he was likely to forget in a hurry, much as he might want to.

Taichi shuffled further away from Hikari on the bed. "Don't fall asleep on me," he mumbled. It didn't appear as though he was fully awake himself. Koushiro looked at Miyako. She was watching with her arms wrapped around her stomach, worry written all over her face.

He cleared his throat. "Miyako," he said. "You know that you must be absolutely quiet, if they do vanish?"

She looked up, startled. "What?"

"We can't risk waking Mr and Mrs Yagami. Taichi told me earlier that he is certain he can return unharmed, as long as Agumon remains here. Hikari thinks she can too. I suspect that their inability to remain awake is connected, somehow. I am almost certain that both will shortly be pulled into this other world. When that happens, no matter what, you must stay quiet, and do not touch them. I don't yet know if you can be taken as well, but I am not willing to take that chance."

Miyako nodded. "I still don't understand why Agumon has to stay here, though."

Koushiro sighed. He wasn't entirely sure he understood Taichi's reasoning himself. "What Taichi faces each night in this world is different to Takeru's experience. He is surrounded by hostile creatures, which he is certain wish him harm. His explanation has been that if Agumon goes with him, these creatures will likely be defeated, therefore leaving them with no way home."

"He's just going to go alone, knowing that he could be… be eaten alive or something?"

Agumon nodded gloomily. "I trust Taichi, but I wish there was another way," he said.

Koushiro was watching his laptop. 11:59. He looked up, counting seconds in his head. A few seconds after the minute ticked over he became aware of a prickling sensation on the back of his neck. At the same time, Taichi's body began to darken. Shadows which were not cast from anything in the room fell rapidly across him, blotting out the colour in his clothes, skin and hair. Hikari fared the same, although the shadows did not appear to be taking her as quickly. Both were surrounded by a dark haze. Within a minute Taichi was merely a silhouette on the bed. Before Hikari's features were lost to the growing darkness, Taichi's silhouette dissolved, and was gone.

Miyako clapped a hand over her mouth. From the high, keening sound she made, Koushiro reasoned it was to suppress a scream. Tailmon pushed past them all, despite Agumon's attempts to pull her back.

"Let go!" she cried. "I can't let that happen to Hikari. I have to protect her!" She swung her tail around in an arc which knocked Agumon to the ground, and leapt to her partner. As Hikari's body started turning to pure darkness, her paw connected. The shadows threw out dark tendrils which coiled rapidly around the digimon and absorbed her too. Darker and darker their bodies grew, until it was as though something had cut a shape out of the world. Light filtered through the silhouettes, and their bodies broke up into clouds which dispersed rapidly.

Koushiro had stood as Tailmon ran past, almost knocking over his laptop in the process. Now he gripped Miyako by the shoulders, and steered her over to the desk and its chair.

"Sit," he said. She was shaking all over. "They're okay. Taichi knows what he is doing, and Hikari now has Tailmon with her. The best we can do is be here when they get back."

She nodded mutely. Koushiro returned to his laptop and loaded the chat programme he had written for communicating with the others. A message popped up immediately from Daisuke.

:Takeru vanished and Patamon went too. Mrs Takaishi is panicking. Help me!:

"Damn it," Koushiro muttered. At Miyako's questioning look, he added: "Takeru couldn't stay awake. Apparently Mrs Takaishi hasn't taken it well. Daisuke wants advice, but I'm not entirely certain what I can tell him. I'm still waiting for Gennai to get back to me with some information he had promised, and until then I really don't know what to suggest."

Agumon sighed. "I wish I was with Taichi. I should be protecting him. What if he gets hurt because I'm not there?"

"You can't think like that," Koushiro said, tapping out a message to Takeru. He hit send, praying it would get through. "We have to stay optimistic. There's every reason to suppose he will be unharmed when he returns - he has done so previously."

The messenger beeped, and he clicked through. Seeing who had sent it he sighed, resignedly.

:Yamato is gone. Gabumon too. It was as though something was making him drowsy, Koushiro. They'll be okay, won't they?:

"Well, that makes four," he said softly. "Now we wait."

"Waiting" wasn't strictly an accurate word to describe the next hour. Even after calming Sora and Daisuke, Koushiro was kept busy by messages from Yamato and Hikari, describing where they were. Yamato had started to explore some of the other buildings in the area, searching for clues, while Hikari was skirting the forest with Tailmon, looking for materials to make a torch. She did not intend to venture into the caves again without a light source.

There had been no word from Taichi, or Takeru. As the minutes passed, Koushiro focused on translating some old texts which Gennai had finally sent him - neither of them yet knew if they would be relevant, but they apparently contained references to worlds other than the digital one. Agumon watched intently.

Miyako had fallen asleep at Taichi's desk. Koushiro had scarcely noticed - between translating and responding to messages he was well-occupied. It was Agumon who gave him the warning.

"Something feels funny…"

Before Koushiro had time to ask what he meant, Taichi burst out of a sudden eruption of shadows. His terrified yell woke Miyako, who shrieked in turn. Agumon raced over, tripping in his haste and landing with a loud thump just short of the bed. Koushiro groaned. So much for quiet.

There was just time for Taichi to look around and ask where Hikari was before Mr Yagami rapped on the door and demanded to know what was going on. To judge from the fact he hadn't opened it, his suspicions were entirely on the wrong track.

Taichi threw Koushiro a panicked look. All Koushiro could manage was a helpless shrug. It wasn't his father who they would either have to lie or come clean to. He wasn't sure which was the worse option.

Swearing, Taichi swung his legs over the edge of the bed, and put his head in his hands. After a moment he stood, and walked briskly to the door, opening it.

"Dad, we have a problem," he said. "It's serious, like the digital world was. I was… And Hikari…" he trailed off, hanging his head. "Koushiro and Miyako are both here, because we're trying to work out what's going on."

Koushiro's laptop beeped. It was Hikari. She and Tailmon had found a path leading into the forest. In the silence that followed Taichi's statement, he did his best to type out a reply inconspicuously, one painful keystroke at a time. Mr Yagami hadn't moved. Was he wondering what they were all doing in Taichi's room, or had he realised that his daughter wasn't there? Would he realise what that meant, or think she was in her own room?

Apparently noticing how strained the room had become, Taichi walked out into the living room, drawing the door closed behind him. Nearby, Miyako sighed with relief.

"I wouldn't trade places with Taichi right now for anything," she murmured. "I can't imagine what he must be feeling. Straight out of one nightmare into another."

Koushiro nodded. With no siblings of his own, he knew that he could never fully understand the position his friend was in. That didn't mean he was unable to empathise at all. His parents had lost a child before adopting him. Every time he'd had to tell them he was about to do something dangerous, he'd been able to sense their fear that they would lose him too. That they tried so hard not to let it show only made it worse, sometimes.

Taichi returned a few minutes later, looking exhausted. "They want to know where Hikari is. I want to know too. She hasn't come back?"

Koushiro shook his head. "She's been sending me messages via her D-Terminal. In previous visits, she went into a cave, disturbing some large, hostile creature. This time, she's exploring the forest. She's perfectly safe, but the cost of that safety is that she's not sure how to get back home at the moment. She and Tailmon are looking for food and water as we speak."

Letting out a string of curses, Taichi flopped onto his bed. "Are you any closer to finding out what's going on? And what about the others? Did they stay awake?"

Koushiro shook his head. "Gennai sent me some old texts which I'm deciphering, but we're both unsure whether they will be of any help. Mostly, the texts they have relate only to the digital world, and everything there seems to be normal at the moment. As for the others, both Takeru and Yamato were unable to stay awake. From talking to Sora and Daisuke, I would guess that whatever it is that's pulling you into this world is also causing you to be unable to stay awake at midnight. That's the exact time you started to vanish, more or less."

"But they can message you as well, right? I mean, so, you could co-ordinate some kind of way for them to find each other?"

"We haven't heard anything from Takeru yet," Miyako said. "Yamato isn't anywhere near a forest, either. We're hoping they'll find a way home soon, because it could take days to work out where they are in relation to each other, let alone get to a meeting point."

Koushiro nodded. "Listen, Taichi, I know you don't want to hear this. But right now, the best thing you can do is try and get some sleep."

"You think I can sleep right now? When Hikari and the others are stuck in that place? I have to find a way back there. I can't just abandon them!"

"Well, stay awake then," Koushiro snapped, losing his patience. "But the next chance you'll have to go back isn't until midday. So if you want to be so exhausted when that happens that you can't help them, be my guest. Alternatively, you could get some sleep now, and have enough energy when you get back there that you can actually do something. I don't know what this world is yet, or how to get the others back. But I do know that it's pulling the four of you in at midnight each night, and that Yamato vanished almost on the stroke of midday, after falling asleep with surprising ease not too long beforehand. If you want to go, you're going to have to wait for that."

"Koushiro's right," Miyako said. "Since you left, he's done nothing but work on a solution. And he's still working, even though he's been awake since nearly this time yesterday."

When Taichi didn't reply, Koushiro looked carefully at him. Over the years, he had learnt to see past the recklessness and bravado. Taichi was as easy to read as a book, really. His emotions were written all over his face - albeit often in reverse. Although he had handed over leadership to Daisuke the previous year, he had remained the glue that held the older Chosen Children together. It had already started to rub off on the younger generation. And now, here he was, the only one to have made it home safely. Again. It didn't take a genius to see what he must be feeling.

"We're going to need you, Taichi. You're the only one who can go and help - and now that I'm getting a better picture of what this world is like, we'll be able to send you back with the things the others will need most," he said, letting his words sink in to the older boy. He knew the moment they had.

"You're right," Taichi said. "Okay. I'll try and sleep. It's just hard, knowing that they're still…" He trailed off as Agumon sat down next to him, resting a hand on his shoulder.

Koushiro nodded. "But they're safe. They all have their partners with them - they're not alone. And everything they have told me so far indicates that the dangers this world posed for them came from their not realising it was real - in a dream we take risks that we would never consider in reality."

"What about Takeru?" Taichi asked, struggling to suppress a yawn.

Koushiro looked instinctively at the time. It was almost half one. "We haven't heard from him yet. I do know that of the three of them, the danger he faced was the only one which required him to take immediate action. I can only assume that he has been too busy to send word as yet. But the fact that he hasn't returned suggests that he is safe enough - if he were in danger enough to harm him, I believe it would fill the same criteria which sent him home last night."

Taichi nodded sleepily. Koushiro gestured for Miyako to leave the room. She got to her feet and crept to the door, holding it open for Koushiro. He shook his head. Much as he was moderately certain that the crossover points were at midday and midnight, he didn't want to take any chances.

The time crawled past. Hikari found food in the forest. Yamato reached the outskirts of the city he had been able to see, and began to explore some of the buildings there with Gabumon. Slowly - achingly slowly, the texts that Gennai had sent began to shed their secrets.

So far, it was information that Koushiro either knew or had guessed already. The existence of worlds besides the ones they had visited already, and how they occupied a space identical to but other than Earth. Brought into life by the actions of humanity, but no less real.

He was just working through a tricky section which talked about them being separate but all connected when his laptop pinged a message. Checking it, he sat up straighter, his tiredness ebbing away.

:Koushiro, hope you get this. Made it out of the rain but no idea where to go now.:

The time stamp on the message read a little after one in the morning. Reflexively, he looked at his clock - it was now closer to three. Had that rain prevented the message from sending? He replied quickly, anxious to know that they were still safe.

:Patamon and I found shelter. Both safe, but not sure how to get home. How are the others?:

He exhaled, relief saturating him. Before Yamato could get too embroiled in the exploration, he tapped out a message to let him know his brother was safe, then returned his attentions to Takeru. Now that they finally had contact, he needed to run through the same checks as he had with the others. The interference which had disrupted the D-Terminals concerned him, too.

:No problems. Pegasusumon and I are going to take a look around. The rain stopped a little while ago.:

Koushiro was about to tell the pair to be careful when his messenger beeped again.

:Think there's trouble. Something else alive in city. Keeping low. Hope they won't see me. Don't msg until I say. Need quiet.:

Yamato. Clearly this world was out to get him. No sooner was there relief on one front than something kicked off elsewhere. The news that there was something - perhaps a someone in the city was intriguing. The promise of more danger was rather less appealing. On and on the silence stretched. Taichi had barely stayed awake past Miyako closing the door. Koushiro didn't even notice when he began to snore - his attention was wholly on his laptop. At last: a message. His hopes flared once, and then died completely.

He read and re-read it, feeling his breath catch in his throat. He should have been thinking faster. Should have warned the others. No. How could he have known? He was running tired, and his ability to think and plan was compromised. If anything happened to Yamato, he would most likely be thrust back into the real world. All he could do was sit back and keep waiting, and things would work out soon.

Of course, it was a lot harder to convince himself of that than it was Taichi.