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CHILDREN OF DESTINY

-CHAPTER FIVE-

Dawn began creeping over the horizon. After the cold night, even just the narrow rays of light that bled through the roots of the hollowed tree warmed Jei as he gazed passed them into the orange sky. He was still fraught with pain, both physical and emotional from the day before. He had been powerless to do anything, and it killed him inside, made him feel useless. Veemon was still unconcious, his breathing labored and weak, but he was alive. Despite Kotemon's betrayal, Jei still worried for him. In the end, he might have given up his life so that Jei and Veemon could escape, there was no doubting that there truely was a bond between them. In his time in the digital world, Jei had learned that the relationship between a human and a Digimon was symbiotic. The human gains a friend and protector, a bond stronger than any mere friendship and the stronger the bond, the more powerful their Digimon protector becomes, healing faster and fighting harder. Jei feared that without Shion and the bond they shared, Veemon's injuries would take weeks to heal, meanwhile the virus was growing stronger each day. Jei had moved Veemon and himself several times throughout the night, making sleep impossible, constantly fearing that they would be discovered if they stayed in one place too long. Luckily, the forest was full of hollowed trees to hide in, allowing them to escape Devimon and LadyDevimon's wrath. It had been hours without any sign of them, and Jei felt it was finally safe to continue traveling. He did what he could for Veemon's injuries with the supplies they had, and after carefully placing Veemon snugly in the leather pack with only his head sticking out for air, Jei emerged from their haven and journeyed onward.

The trees were beginning to thin out and up ahead, Jei could hear the hushing flow of rapids, not to far ahead. At first he thought it was his tired mind playing tricks on him, but as it got louder, he realised what it was. The river Jei thought to himself we're almost out of here. Indeed, it was the river, Jei gave a relieved sigh at the wide expanse of fresh water streaming before them. He washed his hands in the crystal clear water, which to his surprise was actually quite warm. He watered his parched throat and gathered some for Veemon using an empty jar from the pack. He poured a few drops onto the injured Digimon's face. Veemon flinched, instinctively wiping the drops away from his eyes as he began to come to.

"Veemon!" Jei said softly "Veemon, how do you feel?".

"J-Jei?" Veemon wimpered in response "I... I feel like I was thrown around like a toy and slammed against a wall".

"You're okay!" Jei said hugging his friend "When you were lying there, I thought you were..."

Jei let go, suddenly noticing the tears welling up in Veemon's eyes.

"I-I'm sorry Veemon" Jei said "I didn't hurt you, did I?".

"It's not that" Veemon sniffled "You were almost killed, this time I was right there and there was still nothing I could do. Without Shion I feel so useless, if I hadn't been such a scaredy-mon then-"

"Stop that!" Jei inturrupted "None of that was your fault! If you had stayed, you would have been corrupted too and you could have even hurt her!".

Veemon stopped crying and tried his best to pull himself together.

"You... You're right Jei..." Veemon said rubbing his eyes "but I still feel like theres something I should have done".

"We're doing something right now Veemon." Jei said picking up Veemon in the pack "We're going to get her back'".

It seemed that the only way across the river was an old rotted log that lay across it at it's widest point. On the other side, Jei could see the tops of small buildings peeking out over a short hill and just beyond it, was the ever expanding dark zone, the nothingness left behind in the places ravaged by the virus. They were now two days into their three day travel to limbo island, and both him and Veemon were exhausted from their injuries and lack of sleep. Jei hoped that this village would be a safe place for them to rest before the final stretch of their journey.

The log was slippery, and it creaked under Jei and Veemon's weight. Jei fought ever step of the way to keep his footing, his heart lurching forward as he nearly slipped off into the relentless rapids. When his weak feet finally touched the other side, it was an enormous relief to both him and the Digimon still safely inside the leather pack on his back. Veemon had been unconcious most of the night, but Jei had only an hour or so of rest to go on, and by the time he reached the top of the hill overlooking the village, he collapsed.

"Jei, Jei!" he could hear Veemon shout in his ear "Are you okay?!".

Everything around Jei was spinning out of control, his body finally giving in to fatigue. Just a little rest he thought to himself just a little rest.

Jei awoke in a strange place. He found himself tucked carefully into a cot in a dimly lit room, the only source of light was a few narrow windows along the sand colored walls. Jei nearly lept out of the cot once he realised that he wasn't alone. There were many other cots in the room, most of them empty except for two others beside him. The one right next to Jei was completely covered in blankets, obscuring whoever or whatever was sleeping in it. On the other side he could clearly make out Veemon's familier blue complection. He was sitting up in his cot, wide awake, probably unable to sleep, or afraid to after being in a near comatose state the night before.

"Veemon?" he said creeping out of his cot and walking over to his friend "What happened? Where are we?".

"Jei!" Veemon said softly "You're awake! I was worried when you just collapsed like that. We're in a nursery village, the Koromon found us and their guardian helped carry you here where you'd be safe".

"Guardian?" Jei replied puzzled.

"That would be me" came a voice from across the room.

Jei turned toward the voice to see another Digimon standing in the door way. He was about the same hight as Veemon, had orange reptilian skin and looked almost like a small dinosaur walking up on two legs.

"My name is Agumon" he said "I take care of the young Digimon who live here. You were exhaused when we found you, your friend here has told me about everything thats happened. You guys are lucky to be alive, especially your other friend!".

"Huh?" Veemon said "What do you mean other friend?".

"The one we found in the forest" Agumon replied pointing to the cot covered by blankets "hasn't he woken up yet?"

"In the forest?" Jei asked.

Jei walked back over to the other cot cautiously. It can't be he thought to himself can it? He carefully pulled back the blankets, revealing the small Digimon sleeping underneath.

"Kotemon!" Jei yelled.

"Kotemon!?" said Veemon.

Jei couldn't believe it. There sleeping in the other cot was a broken and battered Kotemon beginning to stir. His injuries were grave, even worse than Veemon's. Bruises covered most of his body and his armor was cracked and dented.

"K-Kid...?" Kotemon said groggily "I-Is that you?".

"Kotemon, yes it's me!" Jei said sitting down across from him "I.. I thought you were..."

"Dead?" Veemon sneared "He diserves to be after what he did!".

"I... I'm so sorry for what happened" Kotemon said weakly "I had no idea they intended to kill you. I was scared and selfish, I just didn't want to be a slave".

"You were willing to give your life to put things right" Jei replied "If you hadn't hadn't given us the chance to escape, we would both be dead".

Veemon jumped over onto Kotemon's cot, wincing a bit from the pain of pressuring his injured joints and almost knocking Kotemon onto the floor. He got right up in Jei's face, his expression cross, practically steaming from the ears as he stared him down. Jei had never seen him like this before.

"Jei, what's wrong with you!?" Veemon snapped "If it weren't for him we wouldn't have needed to escape in the first place!".

"Kid, He's right" Kotemon said weakly "If it weren't for me you wouldn't have been caught up in that mess".

"Kotemon, if you weren't a good Digimon at heart, you wouldn't have been able to digivolve to save me" Jei said pushing back the angry Veemon "We share a bond, I felt it from the first time you digivolved into Dinohyumon, and I know you felt it too".

"Good Digimon don't lead their friends into a trap Jei!" Veemon shouted "Maybe I can't digivolve, but I've been a hundred times the friend Kotemon has!".

"Well at least Kotemon didn't leave his friend for dead!" Jei yelled.

Jei immediately realised what he said. The look of disbelief on Veemon's face further intensified the sting of guilt Jei felt. He hadn't meant a single word of it, but he let his anger get the better of him, and there was no taking it back.

"Look, Veemon, I shouldnt have-" Jei started

All at once, Jei felt a familier searing pain scraping across his face. Veemon was weak and injured, but his claws were sharp and he still had a strong swing. Jei jumped back, grabbing his face, the shock keeping him from feeling the bulk of the pain as his old wound was torn open through his bandages and new onces were etched along side it. He wasn't the only one who had let his anger get the better of him. The room fell silent. Both Kotemon and Agumon simply stared on, their jaws wide open in surprise. Veemon's look of anger faded and was replaced by a look of utter remorse at what he had done. Veemon started to speak, but could only grunt as Kotemon tackled him to the floor, seeming to have regained some of his strength.

"No, Kotemon, don't hurt him!" Jei cried

Kotemon immediately backed off of Veemon. Jei didn't know how to react. He knew Veemon hadn't ment it, but he still couldn't believe he had struck him. He got to his feet and hastily made his way toward the doorway across the room, tears beginning to mix with the blood dripping down his cheeks.

"J-Jei!" Veemon called after him as he picked himself up off the floor "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-".

"I know" Jei said unable to look him in the eye "I... I just need to be alone".

"You should come with me" Agumon said catching up to him and inspecting the wound "theres an infirmary in the building next door".

The nursery village was strange. From the outside, it looked like something out of a Feudal Japan movie. All of the buildings were elegantly designed and decorative lanterns lined the stone roads, but inside, the buildings were surprisingly modern. The building next door was a fully functioning infirmary, well stocked with medical supplies.

"These wounds are deep" Agumon said removing the remenants of the old, torn bandages "much deeper than the old ones. You must have really hit a nerve with Veemon".

"We both let our anger get the better of that" Jei said "He's been a good friend to me since I got here, neither of us meant to hurt eachother".

"Yeah, but you didn't diserve that" Agumon said "If he was at full strength, he could have ripped the flesh off your bones. Come to think of it, everyone around here has been getting angry really easily lately".

"It could be the virus" Jei said "It starts to corrupt Digimon that get too close. Why is everyone still here?".

"Where would we go?" Agumon said as he rebandaged Jei's face "Why would we spend our last days running in fear, delaying the inevitable? When the Children of Destiny were taken prisoner by the very Digimon sworn to protect them, a lot of us just lost hope. We would rather be here with eachother".

"I suppose" Jei said suddenly feeling a bit homesick.

Jei hadn't really thought much about home since he had arrived in the digital world. It was almost like part of him still believed that this was a dream, one he could wake up from at any moment, but now that it came to mind, it was beginning to sink in that he may never see it again.

"Come to think of it" Agumon said "Why is Veemon even with you? Won't he get corrupted if he sets foot into the dark zone?".

"I... I hadn't really thought about that" Jei admitted "I always kind of knew that I may have to continue on alone at some point, but I've gotten used to having Veemon with me, Kotemon too. I don't know if I can do this without alone".

"Maybe you can, maybe you can't" Agumon said "but no one ends up in the digital world by accident. If you succeed in freeing them, then you won't be alone".

With his face properly treated, Jei took some time to walk around the stunning village alone to collect his thoughts. Tomorrow I set out alone he thought to himself, Veemon and Kotemon will understand why. Jei knew he couldn't wander around forever. It was getting late, and he would need his strength for the most difficult part of the journey.

"Kid, you're back!" Kotemon said as Jei returned to the room he had awoken in "are you okay?"

"I'm fine" Jei replied "you look much better too Kotemon, how did you heal so fast?".

"When Veemon hit you, I felt a surge of energy" Kotemon said "You needed protecting".

Veemon was sulking in the corner by Jei's cot, it hadn't looked like he had moved much since Jei had left. Jei walked over and kneeled down next to him, placing his hand on his shoulder.

"Veemon?" Jei said "Veemon, it's okay I know you didn't hurt me on purpose. This close to the virus' devastation, it's making your anger more intense, it isn't your fault".

"Some part of me still thought there was something I could have done" Veemon said "but now I realise that you were right. If I had stayed, I would have hurt Shion".

Veemon got up and wrapped himself around Jei. He could feel the small creature's tears soaking through his shirt.

"You know you can't come with me right?" Jei said "You helped me get this far, but tomorrow I have to go on alone".

"Jei..." Veemon started

"It will be okay Veemon" Jei tried to reassure him "If I succeed, I won't be alone. Once the Children of Destiny are free, they can weaken the virus by cutting off it's food supply. Once it's weakened, maybe it won't be strong enough to control anyone anymore, and then you can help them destroy it at it's core".

"But what if you get hurt out there in the dark zone all alone?" Veemon said "I'm the one who brought you here, what if I was wrong? I don't wanna lose you too Jei!".

"It's like Augmon said to me" Jei said "no one ends up in the digital world by accident. I have to try".

Veemon held Jei tighter, burrying his face in Jei's torso and Kotemon joined in too

"I'm going to save her Veemon" Jei said holding his two friends close "and then we're going to beat this thing".

His body was tired, but his mind was wide awake. For the longest time, Jei just laid there, his thoughts buzzing with what he was about to face. He was sure that Devimon and LadyDevimon hadn't given up their search and out in the dark zone, the ocean of nothingness, there was nowhere to hide, all he could do was run straight for the island, straight for the core of the virus. Jei could feel himself trembling at the thought. It intensified, getting worse and worse until he realised that it wasn't just him shaking. The whole room and indeed the whole village was beginning to shake uncontrollable, like some kind of earth quake. Do they even get earth quakes in the digital world? Jei thought to himself. The shaking got worse still, and Jei had to hand on to the edges of his cot to keep from falling out. Both Veemon and Kotemon sprung out of their cots, the still weak Veemon almost collapsing as he landed.

"Kid!" Kotemon yelled. "W-Whats going on!?"

Jei ran to the window, fighting to keep upright as the shaking continued to intensify. Jei's eyes widened as he saw what was happening outside. The growth of the dark zone was accelerating and heading straight for them, the buildings of the village in it's wake being torn up from the ground and then disappearing altogether with only a fine dust in the air left behind. Jei winced as he suddenly felt a stabbing pain in hes leg. He instinctively tried to kick it off, with no such luck. He turned to see what was causing him so much pain, and was shocked to see Veemon knawing on his leg.

"Veemon, what are you doing!?" Jei yelled.

Veemon didn't respond. Jei looked him straight in the eyes, and immediately knew why. His eyes were fuzzy, just like LadyDevimon's, his expression blank and unreadable. A spike of pain came over Jei as Kotemon grabbed Veemon by his hind legs and pulled him off of him, followed by relief to have his sharp teeth out of his flesh.

"Kotemon!" Jei said "If Veemon is corrupted, why isn't it affecting you!?".

"I-" Kotemon tried to say.

The rest of his sentance was completely drowned out as the building they were in broke apart, luckily disintigrating into dust before the debris collapsed on them.

"Kid, we have to run!" Kotemon said "Theres about to be a whole village of corrupted Digimon after us if we don't go!".

"Where!?" Jei shouted "There's nowhere to hide, everything is gone!".

"This dust will take a while to clear" Kotemon replied "We can use it as cover and make a break for it!".

"But the Virus" Jei said "Why isn't it affecting you!?".

"Kid, now isn't the time, you're going to have to trust me!" Kotemon yelled "We have to go!".

Jei hesitated, but nodded, showing his faith in Kotemon. After everything that had happened up to this point, Jei would follow him anywhere. It was horrifying to see the once beautiful village reduced to nothing but specks of dust in the air. He could still hear the destruction going on behind them as the dark zone continued, nothing slowing it down. How did it get so fast!? Jei thought to himself How long before it consumes everything!? He hated leaving Veemon behind, but in his current state, it was too dangerous to bring him and they didn't have time to restrain him.

"Kotemon, digivolve too..." Kotemon said as his voice deepened and his body changed forms "Dinohyumon!".

Kotemon digivolved into Dinohyumon without breaking stride as he and Jei continued to flee the collapsing village.

"Get onto my back!" Dinohyumon said "I can run faster, time is of the essence!".

Jei grabbed Dinohyumon's outreached hand as they ran, feeling a bit jarred as the newly transformed Digimon hoisted him onto his back. Jei closed his eyes and held on tight, the feral sounds of the now corrupted Digimon that hunted them echoing into the nothingness as they raced towards their journey's end.