DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon or any video games, books, films, TV shows or pieces of music referenced in this story. Original characters owned by me are stated in my profile.
Chapter Seven: Fear
Thursday 30th September - 11:48pm
Outside Redcliff Mount High School
Moonlight glinted off of the white-painted chassis of the "Jones and Johnson" coach sat outside Redcliff Mount's main entrance. The massive vehicle was filled almost to the brim with Year 8 students waiting impatiently to begin the eighteen-hour drive to the Loire Valley region of France.
"I can't believe Takato! I swear, the guy will be late to his own funeral…" Cam muttered in an irritated voice. He and Steph were sat near the back of the coach on the right hand side, Cam having stolen the window seat.
"I know," Steph whispered and sighed. "I could understand it if it was just Takato that was late, but I thought his mum was really good with stuff like this!"
"Yeah, but his dad's just as bad at being on time for stuff. Maybe worse, actually…"
"I still can't believe he'd risk missing this trip. It cost a fortune, too!"
"Yeah, it's not every day you get to miss a week of school to go to France…wait, is that him?"
"Let's see…limping, suitcase looks like it's gonna explode, very angry looking Japanese woman dragging him along - yeah, that's Takato," Steph sighed as the boy tripped over his suitcase and landed flat on his face, then was nearly crushed to death by a tearful hug from his mother.
The brown-haired Tamer grinned sheepishly as he threw his suitcase clumsily into the coach's hold and climbed aboard. "Sorry I'm late Mr. Alistair, my dad managed to set fire to the living room curtains."
The elderly History teacher took one look at Mei Matsuki's slightly singed white shirt and decided he believed the child. "At least we know where you get your clumsiness from…" the man sighed, waving the boy down the coach.
Takato walked towards the back of the coach, grinning as he spotted a free aisle seat right behind Cam and Steph. The boy's grin disappeared as soon as he noticed who was sat in the window seat, and a hint of fear wormed its way into his mind as he realised that it was the only free seat near his friends.
Ah, crap…eighteen hours on a coach sat next to Rika? She's gonna kill me…
"Uh, hey there Rika!" Takato said and grinned, ignoring the glare the redhead gave him as he sat down next to her.
Rika was in a foul mood. She was going on a week-long trip with people she could barely stand to be in the same room as for five seconds. She was being forced to go on said trip by her narcissistic mother. Worst of all, Rumiko hadn't even bothered to show up to wave her daughter off, having been "unavoidably held up" in London.
"Look who finally decided to show up!" she snapped and rolled her eyes. "Cam was right - you'd be late to your own funeral…"
"Hey! You mind not listening in on my conversations?" the black-haired boy exclaimed, turning in his seat and glaring at the Tamer.
"I can't help it - you're sat right in front of me, moron. And you whisper really loud!"
"She does have a point, Cam. You do have trouble keeping quiet…" Steph giggled, turning round to join the conversation.
"Why is it that whenever Rika insults me, you guys agree with her?" Cam complained, shooting a mock glare at Steph.
"Because she's usually right!" Steph replied, patting the boy on the head patronisingly.
"Are you guys gonna be like this for the whole eighteen hours? Because, seeing as it's nearly midnight, I was planning on actually getting some sleep!" Rika growled, glaring at the pair in front of her.
Cam immediately let out a squeak of fear and turned back around, sinking as far into his seat as was possible. Steph giggled again at her friend's discomfort before turning around herself.
"Uh, Rika?" Takato said cautiously, looking around at the sea of chattering people surrounding them. "I don't think you're gonna be able to shut the entire coach up…"
The girl glared at him coldly. "I can try."
Half an hour later, and Rika had temporarily abandoned her attempt to sleep, instead settling for listening to some incredibly loud heavy metal music on her iPhone. Try as she might, the redhead simply couldn't intimidate a whole coach full of excited twelve and thirteen year olds into silence. As the girl had retrieved the device from her backpack, Takato had been surprised to see what appeared to be a Viximon stuffed toy crammed into the main pocket.
Wow, I guess even Rika has her soft side…
"Hey, Takato," Cam began, turning in his seat to face his friend. "I was wondering how Guilmon's gonna survive being on his own for a week? Did you get Henry to agree to go round and feed him every day or something?"
"Uh, actually…I managed to smuggle Guilmon into the cargo hold with enough bread to last him a few days."
"Wha…? How the hell did you manage that?" Steph exclaimed, poking her head around the side of her seat. "And will he be okay stuck in the cargo hold for eighteen hours?"
"He should be fine - he'll probably just sleep through the whole journey. As for getting him in there - it involved a lot of careful planning and forethought…and me making a big enough fool of myself to distract the drivers while Guilmon slipped in through the open cargo door."
"That must have been a challenge…" Cam said sarcastically.
"Actually, it kind of was. It's surprisingly hard to set something like that up without it looking fake."
"Yeah, I can imagine!" Steph laughed quietly, then looked at Rika as the noise emanating from the Tamer's headphones quieted down noticeably. "What about you, Rika? Is Renamon clinging to the bottom of the bus like in some James Bond film?"
"No, she's in my backpack."
"What? How could she fit in there?" Cam frowned sceptically, only to jump as the redhead's backpack began rustling gently. "Okay, what the hell is that?"
"Me," a mature, feminine voice answered curtly as the Viximon 'doll' Takato had spotted earlier poked its head out of the bag and leapt into Rika's lap.
"Wait…how is that…she de-digivolved!" Takato exclaimed, keeping his voice low so as not to attract the attention of one of the teachers dotted around the coach.
"Renamon has the rare ability to switch between her Rookie and In-training forms at will. The ability isn't perfect - she can't maintain her form as Viximon for more than about eighteen hours at a time without re-Digivolving to Renamon, but it still comes in pretty handy."
"Um, won't that be cutting it a little close? I mean, the coach journey is meant to take eighteen hours, and that's without delays," Cam pointed out, frowning as Steph and Takato gave him an odd look. "What?"
"Wow, he actually has a point there…" Takato mumbled, ignoring the indignant look on his friend's face.
"Random chance says that it had to happen sooner or later," Steph grinned, elbowing the black-haired boy in the ribs playfully. "So, what are you guys gonna do if time starts getting short?"
"She won't be spending the whole time in my bag. We'll be stopping at least once when we're in France. When that happens, Viximon will digivolve back to Renamon and spend the rest of the journey in the cargo hold."
"Oh, that's a pretty good idea. Plus it'll give Guilmon some company," Takato said and nodded absent-mindedly. "Damn it, I just realised - this means that Henry and Terriermon are the only guys on call if there's a Bio-emergence."
"You only just realised that? Wow, and you guys call me dumb…" Cam grinned.
"You worry too much, Gogglehead. Bio-emergences tend to come in sudden waves, so things should be quieter after the rush in the last few weeks. Besides, if anything unexpected happens, he's got a cool head on his shoulders, Gargomon's finally under control and he's good with strategy. Brainiac will be fine," Rika sighed, frowning as Steph, Cam and Takato gave her identical confused stares. "What?"
"Ummm…did you just pay someone a compliment?" the black-haired boy asked cautiously.
"Yeah, so?" the redhead growled, glaring at the boy.
"What's the matter Cam - jealous?" Steph teased, laughing at the flustered look that smeared itself across her friend's face a second later.
"What? No! It's just a little…odd…" he spluttered, wincing as Rika let out a soft "hmmph!" and looked away, shaking her head gently.
"I don't just hurl insults for the sake of it, you know - Brainiac is far from the worst Tamer I've ever met. That honour had to go to Kazu Shioda. He was basically like the Japanese version of Cam - irritating, incompetent and delusional."
Takato laughed at the outraged look plastered to his friend's face as the black-haired boy let out a growl of irritation. "Hey! I'm right here you know!"
"How could I forget…" the redhead muttered sarcastically, turning the volume on her iPhone up to the maximum that she could tolerate and closing her eyes.
Friday 1st October - 7:30am
Dover Ferry Port
Rika opened her eyes with a start as Viximon woke her with a gentle telepathic 'nudge'. The girl had finally dozed off some time after 1am, Cam having taken that long to shut up and get some sleep himself.
"Rika, we will be boarding the ferry any minute now."
"Okay, thanks…How long was I asleep?" the redhead replied, rubbing her eyes and yawning.
"About six hours."
"Damn it…okay, let's get you back into my bag while nobody's watching."
The vulpine Digimon rolled herself into a ball, and Rika carefully stuffed her into the backpack. Glancing to her left, the girl noticed that Takato was still fast asleep. The boy shifted in his seat and mumbled something about "purple".
If he's having another damn dream about me… Rika thought angrily and pinched Takato's nose, cutting off his air supply.
"GAH! I didn't mean to…!" the boy yelped as he shot awake, then looked around in confusion. "Wait, what the…?"
"You were dreaming, Gogglehead. We'll be on the ferry in a few minutes."
"Oh, uh, thanks."
"Whatever," the redhead muttered and turned away to look out of the window.
Rika had planned on letting Viximon re-digivolve to Renamon on the ferry and get some exercise, but her plans were foiled by Mr. Alistair. The elderly Head of History refused to let any of the thirty-five children on the trip out of a teacher's sight for more than a minute at a time. The vulpine Digimon ended up spending almost five more hours in the redhead's backpack, only managing to escape and revert to her Rookie form when the coach stopped at a service station over three hours after arriving in France.
"Never again!" the kitsune growled mentally after she had broken free from her fabric prison.
"Sorry about that, I didn't expect Mr. Alistair to be so strict on the ferry. Maybe it would be better if you spent the whole journey home in the cargo hold…"
"Agreed."
Friday 24th September - 6:50pm Local time (5:50pm British Summer Time)
Le Bonhomme Joli Holiday Village, Loire Valley, France
The coach finally pulled into the holiday village where the children were staying just before 7pm local time, and forty exhausted schoolchildren were soon dragging themselves out of their seats and into the traditional three-storey French manor-house. While the five teachers and two coach drivers were distracted trying to control the stampede, they failed to notice the cargo door on the opposite side of the coach open slowly and a red dinosaur poke its head out and sniff the air.
"Come on, Renamon! It's all clear!" Guilmon whispered before bounding off into the small forest next to the manor. A humanoid fox materialised next to the open door, closing it quietly before disappearing again.
"Guilmon and I are out of the coach. We were not seen."
Rika smiled to herself as her partner made contact with her. "Good work. Help Dino-boy find a place to sleep, then wait in the bushes near the willow tree out back."
"As you wish…"
"Hey, Gogglehead!" Rika called in Japanese, seeing Takato stood with Cam and Steph waiting for his suitcase to be unloaded. "Renamon and Guilmon are off the coach. She'll be waiting by the willow tree in fifteen minutes to take you to Dino-boy."
"Great!" the Tamer replied, a grin splitting his face. "Tell her-"
"Okay students, quiet down now!" Mr. Alistair called, interrupting the Tamers' conversation. "I will now be handing out your room assignments for the week. Girls will be on the middle floor, boys will be on the ground and top floors."
A chorus of groans greeted this piece of information. "I still can't believe they won't let us choose our own roommates!" Cam muttered to Takato, who nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, knowing our luck, we'll get stuck in rooms with Luke Aaron's little henchman."
"What? One of them's on the trip? Is it the stupid one?" Cam hissed, frowning as Takato shook his head. "The ugly one?" Another head shake. "Oh, the one you and Henry got in that fight with!"
"Yeah, him…"
"Quiet down!" Mr. Alistair shouted again before starting on the room list. "Okay, I'll start with the girls. Room one, two people: Rika Nonaka and Stephanie Rare."
"Ouch, poor Steph…" Cam mumbled as the blonde and the redhead dragged their suitcases up the stone staircase leading to the manor's main entrance.
"She'll be fine - Rika doesn't hate her that much," Takato replied with a grin as the elderly teacher continued shouting out names and room numbers. "I wonder how they decided who gets put in a room together?"
"Maybe it's based on who you're sat with in your History classes."
"I hope so…"
"Okay, now for the boys! Top floor, room one, three people: Ryan Cable, Joe Carr, Steven Dunn."
Takato grimaced sympathetically as he saw Luke Aaron's henchman walk forwards, two boys he recognised from his Music lessons as Joe and Steven shuffling along behind him dejectedly. "Poor Joe and Steve…" he muttered.
"Top floor, room two, two people: Takato Matsuki and Cameron Ridings."
"Yes!" the brown-haired Tamer hissed as he made his way towards the main entrance. "Oh damn it! This means we're stuck next door to Ryan Cable…"
"Well, mate, look at it this way - at least if he starts picking on Joe and Steve, you can always wander on over and beat the crap out of him again!"
Woods near Le Bonhomme Joli Holiday Village, Loire Valley, France - 7:15pm Local time (6:15pm British Summer Time)
"YAY! TAKATOMON!" Guilmon shouted joyously and leapt on his Tamer.
"Ow, Guilmon - get off me!" Takato yelped as the red dinosaur began licking his face.
"Wow, does he do that every time he sees you?" Cam asked with a grin. The black-haired boy had been forced to accompany his friend into the nearby woods to get around Mr. Alistair's rule against students going anywhere alone.
"Pretty much, yeah," the Tamer sighed as he picked himself up off of the ground. "Sorry I can't stay long, boy. I've got to be at the main dining hall for dinner in ten minutes, but I'll try to come and see you after that."
"Awww…" Guilmon moaned, giving the boy his best 'puppy-dog' eyes. "But what am I supposed to do while you're gone?"
"Try digging yourself a den, or doing whatever it is you do when I'm at school all day. You're gonna be on your own quite a lot for the next week, so you're gonna have to get used to it," Takato replied gently, patting his partner on the nose.
"Oh…okay then…"
"Thanks, boy! I gotta go now - Mr. Alistair will kill me if I'm late."
"Bye Takatomon!"
As Takato and Cam left, the Digimon began digging furiously into the side of a nearby hill. When they were safely out of earshot, Cam turned to his friend and scratched the back of his head nervously.
"You know…Look, don't take this the wrong way, but…Are you sure it was a good idea bringing Guilmon with you? I mean, it's gonna be pretty hard smuggling him back into England, and you're gonna have to feed him while he's here," the black-haired boy said warily.
"I know, but I couldn't just leave him for a week! You should see how depressed he gets when I leave him to go to school on a morning. I don't think he could take much more than a couple of days away from me, and I couldn't pull out of the trip without it looking suspicious."
"Yeah, I guess you're right…"
Friday 1st October - 6:30pm
Kirkfield Park
"There it is, Henry!" Terriermon called from atop the boy's head as he spotted the small Digital Field in the middle of a nearby clearing. "Mush, boy, mush!"
"Terriermon…" the blue-haired Tamer said reflexively as he ran towards the Bio-emerging Digimon. "I don't like this. My D-Arc keeps giving me really erratic readings. Can you sense anything?"
"Not much here…It's almost like the Digimon in the Field is…dying," the rabbit-like Digimon frowned and leapt to the ground.
"Alright, let's check it out," Henry sighed as the pair walked cautiously through the outer layer of fog to see…
Nothing.
The Digital Field enclosed a three-metre wide circular area of grass, with a small shrub providing the only scenery. Terriermon took a quick look around and asked the obvious question.
"Okay…so where the hell is the Digimon?"
Henry shook his head and frowned thoughtfully. "I don't know, maybe it…"
The boy trailed off as he caught a glimpse of something shiny in the shrub. Kneeling down, he began to rummage carefully in the branches of the small plant, retrieving what looked like a small metal computer mouse with glowing red eyes.
"A MetalKoromon?" Henry muttered, peering at the tiny Digimon closely. That explains why the digital field was so small…
Terriermon wandered over and smiled at the mouse-creature. "Hey there, little guy. Don't worry, we won't hurt you…"
MetalKoromon suddenly flickered with static and let out a small whimper, then disintegrated into specks of free floating data.
"No!" Henry shouted, desperately trying to catch the rapidly dispersing data with his bare hands.
"Poor little guy," the rabbit Digimon mumbled sadly as he placed a comforting ear-hand on his Tamer's shoulder. "The strain of Bio-emerging must have drained too much of his energy. There wasn't anything we could do."
"I know…" the blue-haired boy sighed, wiping a lone tear from his cheek before he looked up and noticed something odd. "Uh, Terriermon? Why isn't the Digital Field disappearing?"
"Uh, good question," he replied, scratching his head thoughtfully with one ear-hand. "Maybe it's just a delayed reaction or some…there we go!"
Sure enough, the thick digital fog began rapidly dissipating, leaving the pair stood in the middle of a small clearing. Getting slowly to his feet, Henry picked his partner up and began walking slowly home.
"Come on, we'd better get you back before Suzie throws a tantrum…"
Neither the boy nor the Digimon noticed that the small shrub appeared to be casting an oddly long, dark shadow. As the pair moved out of sight of the clearing, the shadow suddenly detached itself from the plant, flowing at incredible speed towards Redcliff Mount High School.
Perfect… the shadow thought as it flowed up the wall of the old-fashioned Science building. As it reached the roof, it stopped moving and a tall, winged, white-skinned figure began to rise out of the darkness. Using that dying MetalKoromon as a decoy was a stroke of genius, if I do say so myself. The fools had all their attention focussed on the pathetic little creature, giving me time to fully Bio-emerge. And I even managed to disguise the collapse of the Field as being caused by its death…
When the figure had fully emerged from its shadow, it flexed its ragged, bat-like wings and let out a soul-chilling chuckle. "Soon this world shall tremble before the power of IceDevimon…"
But first, I must find the Cold One… The small red gem set into IceDevimon's forehead glowed softly for a moment, and the fallen angel growled in frustration. Yes…I sense her…but, wait…this cannot be…the signal is so…distant! How is that possible? I am definitely at the correct co-ordinates - the other Tamer's presence proves that - and according to my sources, most humans do not usually travel over such long distances on a regular basis…
IceDevimon sank back into his shadow, which began to flow southwards faster than the human eye could follow. No matter! The Cold One will be mine, and then both worlds shall bow down and worship me!
Saturday 25th September - 2:25pm Local Time
Fontevraud Abbey, France
Rika let out a sigh of boredom as Mr. Alistair began rambling on about some new aspect of the 'fascinating' history of Fontevraud Abbey. He was giving them a guided tour of the medieval site, and had been talking practically non-stop for nearly an hour about various topics, including the feud between Richard the Lionheart and his father Henry II, the Third Crusade and something to do with the French Revolution. The Tamer had given up on trying to pay attention within a few minutes, instead opting for covertly listening to music on her iPhone. The girl had to suppress a smirk as 'Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr' by Trivium began playing. Oh, the irony…
"Kill…me…" she heard Cam whispering from in front of her. "Can't…take it…anymore…"
"Quit being so dramatic!" Steph replied. "Would you prefer to be in school?"
"It's Saturday. I'd be at home now, kicking Takato's ass on Call of Duty."
"Uh, Cam, if I remember correctly I tore you to shreds last time we played. And the time before that. And the time before that…" Takato whispered and grinned.
"Yeah, well I've been practicing! I'll eat you alive next time!"
"Um, are you guys done? We're getting left behind, here!" Steph hissed and quickened her pace, the two boys doing the same and rejoining the rest of the group.
Rika cursed mentally as she realised that she was getting pretty far from the group as well. The redhead had no desire to be lectured by Mr. Alistair, and was about to speed up herself when she suddenly felt a cold shiver run down her spine as she was filled with a feeling of intense dread. She span around, looking for the cause of her sudden, violent reaction, but saw nothing but French tourists and shadows. The girl turned around and started walking quickly, gripped by a sudden fear of being left alone with the shadows.
The strange incident at Fontevraud was only the first of many. At least twice a day, Rika found herself feeling as if she was being watched by…something. Every time it happened, an inexplicable terror washed over her, but when she turned around, she saw nothing apart from a tiny flash of white out of the corner of her eye. The frequency and intensity of the strange attacks were reducing the girl to a nervous wreck - she was jumping at shadows, refusing to go anywhere alone and was becoming even more distant (if that was at all possible) and paranoid with each passing day. Renamon had noticed the changes in behaviour, but decided against asking about the cause, feeling that Rika would discuss it when she was ready. Steph had also noticed her roommate's odd behaviour, and once again decided on a more hands-on approach to the problem at hand.
Tuesday 5th October - 8:15pm
Room P1, Chez de Luxe, Le Bonhomme Joli Holiday Village, France.
Rika and Steph wandered back into their room, just getting back from their evening meal. The French chef had once again decided to serve barely-edible pickled slop to his English customers, much to the blonde girl's chagrin.
"I thought the French were meant to be famous for their great food!" she complained as her red-haired roommate unlocked their bedroom door. "Just once I'd like to have a starter that isn't pickled and a main course that's actually edible!"
Rika didn't reply, instead walking cautiously into the room and turning on the light. As the small room was illuminated, revealing nothing out-of-the-ordinary, the Tamer breathed a sigh of relief and slumped onto her bed.
"Rika…what's going on?" Steph asked, sitting on her own bed and watching the girl carefully.
"What are you talking about Goldilocks?" the redhead muttered and rolled over so that she was face-down on the bed.
"I'm talking about you jumping at your own shadow! I'm talking about you stopping talking when you're halfway through an insult! I'm talking about the way you've been acting the last few days!" the blonde girl exclaimed, flinching as Rika sat up and threw her an angry glare.
"Why the hell do you care?"
"I care because I'm worried about you! And if something's scary enough to make a badass Tamer like you jumpy, then I'm terrified!"
Rika looked away, staring at the floor for a few seconds before answering in a quiet, timid voice completely unlike her usual tone. "This is so stupid…okay, do you ever get the feeling that you're being watched?"
"Uh, sometimes, I guess. Is that what has you so spooked out?"
"It's not just that…I've been feeling like there was someone watching me since we got here. I keep having these weird cold shivers, and I start feeling so…so…"
"Afraid?" Steph suggested helpfully.
Rika nodded, mentally thanking Steph for not making her say the word. "I don't know why it keeps happening! I keep feeling like there's someone stood behind me about to stick a knife in my back, but when I turn around there's nothing there! I know I'm not imagining this - every time it happens, the room suddenly gets cold and I start seeing…my own…breath…"
The redhead's eyes widened with fear, and Steph realised that the temperature in the room had dropped dramatically while Rika was talking. The blonde shivered, noticing the ice coating the large windows and the puff of mist as she exhaled. As a shadow began flowing up the wall behind her roommate, Steph opened her mouth to shout a warning, only to find herself unable to speak.
Rika saw Steph's horrified stare and leapt to her feet only for a massive pair of taloned white hands to emerge from the shadow and grab her, pinning her arms to her sides and covering her mouth. The Tamer tried to scream and fight against the monstrous talons, but their grip was too strong and the girl found herself being dragged slowly back towards the shadow.
"RIKA!" an angry voice shouted as Renamon materialised in the centre of the room and leapt to her Tamer's aid.
"Avalanche Claw!" a distant voice called, and a storm of icicles flew from the shadow, throwing the kitsune across the room.
As Rika was swallowed up by the shadow, Steph finally found her voice and did the only thing she could.
She screamed.
"Seriously dude, I don't know why you're so nice to the girl. All she does is insult us and beat the crap out of us for the tiniest little things!" Cam moaned as he and Takato walked from the dining area towards the manor's main entrance.
"Rika's not that bad! She's okay when you get to know her, and I kind of feel sorry for her…" the Tamer replied, shuffling uncomfortably as he said the last part.
"You feel sorry for her? Why the hell would you feel sorry for the Ice Queen?"
"Come on, don't call her that!"
"Why not? She's so damn cold to everyone, she might as well be made of ice!"
"Seriously, Cam. Stop it," Takato said as the pair entered the manor, his voice deadly serious. "I think she's had kind of a rough past, and I'm pretty sure she doesn't get on too well with her mum. And she's not cold, she's just…sad. You can tell by looking at her."
Cam snorted and shook his head as they started climbing the stairs. "Whatever, dude. I still say she's-" He was cut off by a loud scream that rang out just as they passed the corridor leading to the girls' rooms. "Wait, that sounded like…"
"Steph!" the boys yelled as one, running madly towards their friend's room. The door was open when they got there, and what they saw left them stunned.
The room's windows were coated with a thick layer of ice, and the room itself was much colder than it should have been. Renamon was laid unconscious in the middle of the floor, Rika was nowhere to be seen and Steph was staring at the wall in front of her, tears of pure terror streaming down her face.
"Steph! Steph, what happened?" Cam said urgently, pulling the girl into a hug and whispering soothingly when he realised she was too terrified to talk.
"Renamon! Renamon, can you hear me?" Takato said, shaking the vulpine Digimon in an attempt to wake her.
"Steph, listen to me. Take deep breaths," Cam said gently, giving her an encouraging smile when she did as he asked. "That's better. Now, tell me what happened."
"I was…I was t-talking to Rika, and she said she thought someone had been following her since she g-got here, then the room got really cold and…" The blonde-haired girl stopped and took a series of deep breaths. "This shadow just started moving up the wall, and then some big white hands shot out of it and grabbed Rika. It started pulling her back towards it, then Renamon appeared and tried to help her but it…it…this voice just shouted and she got hit by…this wall of flying icicles!"
Cam pulled the girl back into a hug as she started sobbing again. "It's okay, Steph. It's okay. What happened to Rika?"
"The claws they…they dragged her into the shadow! She got pulled straight through the wall!"
"Ri…ka…" a voice groaned, making Steph jump and start sobbing again.
"Renamon!" Takato gasped, helping the kitsune to her feet.
"Rika…she was taken…" the Digimon croaked, leaning heavily against the wall.
"Do you know who took her? Or where?"
"I know where…I can sense her through our link…as for who, I am not sure. I only heard the name…the name of the attack he hit me with."
"What was the attack called? I might recognise it!"
"Avalanche…Claw…"
Takato's face paled visibly with fear, and the Tamer took a step back. "Oh no…"
"Takato? What is it?" Cam asked, worried by his friend's reaction.
"Avalanche Claw is one of the attacks of a Digimon called IceDevimon. He's a sadistic nutcase who enjoys inflicting as much pain and misery as possible on his victims before he…kills them…" the boy said, shaking his head.
"Then what the hell are you w-waiting for? Get your arse out th-there and help her!" Steph exclaimed between sobs, shocking Takato out of his fear-induced trance.
"Right! Renamon, if I go get Guilmon can you lead us to Rika?" the brown-haired Tamer asked, his voice full of steely determination.
"I will do more than that," the kitsune replied and stood up straight, dangerous levels of cold fury in her voice. "This scum has taken my Tamer. My Rika. I am going to tear him apart byte by byte until there is nothing left of him but ashes and memories!"
"Uh, I'll take that as a yes, then. Meet me at Guilmon's cave and we'll-"
"My way is quicker," Renamon interrupted, grabbing the boy and activating her Kohenkyo ability without waiting for his permission.
"Well…she sure knows how to make an exit!" Cam joked feebly as the pair disappeared, drawing a tiny smile from Steph.
Where…am I? Rika thought as she groggily opened her eyes. The girl looked around her, seeing that she was on a plateau about twenty metres wide near the top of a large hill. The plateau was sheltered on three sides by steep slopes, while the fourth side was a thirty-metre drop to a fast-flowing river at the bottom of the hill.
"Welcome to my parlour, said the spider to the fly…" a voice crooned menacingly behind the girl. What the…?
Rika looked down to see that she was wrapped in a pair of ragged white bat-like wings. The wings parted, depositing the redhead gently on the ground and allowing her to take a good look at her kidnapper.
"You…I know you…you're IceDevimon!" she gasped, shivering in the cold night air.
"Indeed I am. I have been searching for one such as yourself for a very long time," the thin white demon said and took a step towards the girl.
"St-stay back!" she warned, backing away from the intimidating figure. "What do you want with me?"
"Why, my dear, I want you to be my Tamer! What else could I possibly want from a human?" he laughed and took another step forward, Rika taking one back. "I'd be careful if I were you - you're awfully close to the edge…"
As the redhead glanced nervously over her shoulder, IceDevimon leapt forwards and grabbed her in his massive talons, taking advantage of her distraction. Rika struggled in his grasp, freezing as her captor began to laugh coldly.
"My, you are a spirited one aren't you? I'm going to enjoy breaking you…"
"What makes you think I'd want to be a Tamer to a freak like you?" she growled, resuming her struggles.
"Let me show you…" the fallen angel growled, his voice suddenly deepening as the red jewel on his forehead started to glow white.
A thick fog began gathering around the pair, creating a spherical Digital Field over thirty metres in diameter. Rika redoubled her struggles as the outer edges of the fog cloud began to coalesce into a wall of solid ice, trapping her in with IceDevimon. The girl arched her back and opened her mouth in a silent scream as a beam of white light shot from IceDevimon's glowing gem, striking her in the forehead.
"HELP ME…RENAMON…TAKATO!"
"TAKATO!"
Takato fell to his knees with a yelp of pain as Rika's voice tore through his mind. Guilmon let out a yelp of his own and rushed to his Tamer's side.
"Takatomon? What is it?"
"Rika…I heard…Rika…" the boy gasped, climbing shakily to his feet. "How…is that possible?"
"She is…calling out to us…" Renamon whispered from ahead of the pair. "She…needs me…"
Takato looked at Renamon lying at the bottom of a tree, realising that she had fallen to the floor at the same time as he had. The vulpine Digimon had been using her link with Rika to lead Guilmon and Takato to the redhead when the sudden telepathic scream had hit the group.
"Renamon? Are you okay?" the boy asked, staggering over to the kitsune.
"The pain…so much pain…" she croaked, trying to stand without much success.
"Damn it! Are you gonna be okay to carry on?"
"Not me…that is in pain…" Renamon replied, standing at last. Takato was shocked to see tears in her eyes. "…Rika…he is in her mind…in her heart…I can see it all…feel it all. So…much…pain…"
Sorry, couldn't resist leaving it on a cliffhanger! Also couldn't resist having an IceDevimon appearance - it just wouldn't be the same without it.