Caught Between a Rock and the Hard Truth

[MatrixTamer]

A pair of midnight blue eyes opened themselves to look upon the world for the first time in two weeks as a boy raised himself up on his elbows, groaning with effort in doing what would normally be such a simple task. Looking around with the same eyes, his gaze swept over the interior of a cave filled with what at first glance just looked like a clump of rocks but, after a closer look were clearly just Digimon. The one closest to him who bore a magnifying glass strung around its neck was watching him concernedly as it spoke the words, "Kouji, you're awake! Are you okay?"

"Huh?" the boy murmured, still slightly dazed. But soon his senses came back to him and he recognized the creature standing before him. "Gostumon? Wh-what am I doing here?"

Gotsumon shrugged, showing he knew just about as little on the current situation as Kouji, yet he felt obliged to answer his question and so he responded. "I dunno. We found you unconscious out in the field and so we brought you back here. You've been out so long, we were worried you'd never come around."

"Well, how long was I out for?" Kouji asked, thinking it couldn't have been more than a few hours.

"Almost two weeks."

"WHAT!?" Kouji bolted upright so quickly he hit his head on the ceiling with a painful sounding crack. Raising his hand to the wound and rubbing it, he could feel a trickle of blood, but it wasn't enough to worry him considering the present situation. "Two weeks? You've gotta be kidding me!"

Gotsumon shook his head, looking guilty even though there was no way any of it could have been his fault. "I wish I were. But I'm just glad you're alright. Whatever happened, it must've been pretty bad."

"It was," Kouji muttered, looking back to the last climactic battle with Arkadimon. They had been losing, but once they combined their Spirits and evolved to Susanoomon, their power equally matched that of their foe. They and Arkadimon had each dealt out attack at the same time, hoping one would cancel the other out, but instead a giant explosion errupted and Kouji's last conscious memory was that of seeing his friends flying through the air from the force of the collision. "Gotsumon, I have to find my friends. They could be anywhere; I need to start searching right away."

He made his way toward the cave's exit, but the Gotsumon held him back, forcing him back down where he had been lying earlier.

"We'll look. You need to rest," they explained.

"But--" Kouji began, but he then stopped himself. They were right and arguing would do no good. He was still weak, and tramping across the Digital World would only make him weaker. Besides, they'd be able to cover more ground together than he would alone. "Alright, fine. But as soon as I'm better, I'm coming with you."

The Gotsumon nodded. Then six of them turned and left the cave, all headed in different directions. Kouji followed them with his gaze until they were out of sight, then he leaned back on the hard cave floor and shut his eyes, trying to shut out the pounding in his head and get some sleep, as if he hadn't had two weeks' worth already.

[MatrixTamer]

Over time, five Gotsumon returned with no signs of having found any of Kouji's human friends. But after nearly twenty-four hours, the sixth still had not been sighted, and Kouji held out hope that maybe he had run into one of them. Still, that speculation did not make him any less anxious as he waited restlessly for the Digimon's return.

Finally, though, another pair of Gotsumon spotted the one returning and rushed to tell Kouji when they had noticed there was a human girl with them. After they were finished speaking, Kouji sprung from his place on the cave floor and, not uttering a word, dashed out the exit to have a look for himself. Coming to one of the three Red Ruby Rocks, he climbed a ladder of vines the Gotsumon had constructed until he was standing atop the monument, looking out past the forest into the field before him. Sure enough, there was the Gotsumon with a girl dressed in a black trenchcoat trailing almost dutifully behind him.

"It's Akiko!!" he declared and, decending the giant statue, he ran out into the field to greet them.

--

Meanwhile, Gotsumon tramped happily along, leading Akiko through a field full of tall grass reaching up to their necks.

"Not much farther... not much farther..." he kept repeating until, finally, the Red Ruby Rocks were in sight. "See? I told you it wasn't far! Hey, look: there's Kouji now." He pointed a stumpy finger to a boy running quickly through the grass in their direction.

[Akiko]

The girl tenses, hands flying by instinct to the knives at her sides. She backs up a bit, and then turns and runs in the opposite direction. Her mind is swirling, a hurricane of anger and fear, and then the void where all memory should have gone. Her breathing is ragged already from nerves, and she is not nearly as swift as she ordinarily would have been.

Her dark curls whip behind her, the trenchcoat trailing back.

[MatrixTamer]

Kouji paused as he saw Akiko running away, a puzzled expression plastered across his face. Why would she run from him? It didn't make any sense. Speeding up once more, he murmured a thanks to Gotsumon as he passed it, then broke out into a dead sprint, putting as much energy into his run as possible. He managed to close in on her a little bit, but even though they were both weak she was still faster than him. Still wondering just what this was all about, he quickened his pace even more and called out in a voice hoarse from lack of oxygen, "Akiko! Wait!"

Then, unable to continue with the chase anymore, he stopped, holding his hands behind his head as breathed in short, gasping breaths, trying to control the vicious beating of his heart as it pounded in his ears. His deep blue eyes still followed her and he hoped desperately she would stop; he didn't have the energy to Spirit Evolve, but that's what it would take in order to catch up with her.

[Akiko]

The girl stops, a glimmer of recognition dawning in her mind. She turns to face him, her expression confused. As soon as it has made itself known, the sensation of remembering fades. She stays where she is, frozen, staring at Kouji.

She studies his face, her green eyes intense as ever, her hand clutching the handle of one of her knives so tightly her knuckles are white with effort.

[MatrixTamer]

"Akiko..."

Still panting, he staggered forward a few steps, lips twitching to form a small smile of relief. His actions were slow, mechanical, as if pre-determined but not practiced. His gaze flew to her hand upon the knife's hilt and his brow furrowed in concern, yet he didn't speak about it. Whatever this was... whatever was going on... it had to be approached cautiously.

"Akiko, what's going on? It's like you don't even recognize me."

Before the words were out of his mouth, he knew the truth that hung heavily from their every syllable. He knew by the frightened look on her face, the panicked method of defense she took as her uncertain hand grasped the only weapon she could possibly hope to use against this unfamiliar world, and even then doubting its effectiveness. All this hit him like a ton of bricks, and he would have collapsed under the weight of it were it not for the fact that he was now the only one standing between her and complete insanity.

[Akiko]

Up close, Akiko looked totally lost, her green eyes shifting anxiously. She clutched the knife hilt tightly but did not draw. Somewhere she figured she must know how to use the weapon if she was carrying it at all, but she couldn't remember. If she had to draw, maybe it would come by instinct.

She shifted away from Kouji, her eyes slipping to the side. She spoke in a slightly shakey voice,

"You know me?"

[MatrixTamer]

Kouji did not move forward nor backward when she shifted away, hoping that by keeping his position he would be able to convince her he wasn't a threat. When she spoke, he nodded slowly and replied with a calmness that most certainly did not suit the tense atmosphere which they were submerged in, hoping his tone might relax her slightly.

"Yeah. And you know me. Or at least, you did. I am Minamoto Kouji."

He gave a slight bow, though not so much so that he'd intimidate her further. Given the tight bond they had previously built up between themselves, he didn't think the action appropriate at all, yet it was the only form of greeting he could think of to use without scaring her off. His mind, normally quite sharp, was being weighed down by the situation and he found himself relying on polite instinct to carry out his actions. If only he could get a moment to gather his thoughts...

"Akiko, do you know where we are?" he asked. It was a simple question, but he needed to know just how much memory damage she had endured. There were other more important questions he wanted to ask, but he thought it better to take it one at a time, and this was the first one that came to mind.

[MatrixTamer]

Out of the sky came a great bird Digimon carrying a human passenger upon his back. His piercing yellow eyes scoped out the earth below them as his ears listened for anything of interest being said in the field below. Almost instantly he became aware of Kouji and Akiko, yet didn't draw attention to them, for he could tell by their words their conversation was a delicate one and was best left undisturbed. So, instead, he flew Izumi all the way to the statues themselves where he dived down, pulling up just in time to land safely upon the cliff.

"Well, Izumi, here we are. I trust you'll be able to find your way around now on your own. Your friends are in the nearby field, I suspect you'll be able to spot them from one of these statues. Now, I must be off. I wish you the best of luck." He stretched out a wing and tilted to the side to allow her to climb off, following her with his eyes as he prepared to take off.

[UnityWind]

"Thanks Arquilamon for the left. Bye!" Izumi said as she got off. The blonde italian started to look around her surroundings before she started off in the direction in which she thought she saw Kouji and Akkiko. I hope the others are ok....wherever they might be. Takuya, Ran, Kouichi, Chris. Hope to see you guys soon. Izumi thought as she ran towards her friends.

[MatrixTamer]

OOC: *shall wait for FF to post before I make mine*

[Akiko]

The girl looked around nervously, her green eyes troubled. She bit her lower lip gently, struggling to find any tattered remnant of memory. She bowed back to Kouji, because it seemed the right thing to do, then she took another step back.

"No." She pushes her curls out of her face, "This all .. I just feel ... wrong."

[MatrixTamer]

Kouji sighed as a hand raised itself to his temple, rubbing it compulsively. She didn't know where they were, meaning she didn't know about anything that had happened there. All those memories... gone. Because of one lousy battle. As if simply dealing with Arkadimon wasn't enough; she had a lot of catching up to do.

"Alright, then," he began slowly, trying to decide what he needed to tell her. "This is the Digital World. It's in another universe parallel to our own, the real world. The creatures that live her are called Digital Monster, or Digimon. You've met one already. But nevermind all that for now. Do you remember anything about the real world?"

Kouji wasn't sure whether he hoped she would remember or if he wanted her to draw a blank. Akiko's past in the real world certainly wasn't anything worth remembering, yet at the same time her being able to recall would be a good sign for the state of her memory. Both a win-win and a lose-lose situation, there was nothing he could think about on the matter than to just wait for her answer. Yet there wasn't time for Akiko to answer for, just after he had spoken, the sound of running footsteps could be heard and, as he turned toward the sound, he saw Izumi hurrying through the grass in their direction.

Perfect timing... he thought sarcastically. Then, turning back to Akiko, he spoke aloud in a semi-stern voice: "Someone's coming. Don't worry; she's a friends of ours. Just..." his eyes travelled to the knives and he nodded in their direction. "Just don't use those."

[Akiko]

Akiko backed up a little, making sure Kouji was between her and the rapidly approaching Izumi. She rested her hand over the hilt of the knife at her side, because somehow she found it comforting to know it was there. She didn't intend to use it, mostly because she wasn't sure if she would be any good with it, or if everyone packed heat. Or if Izumi was even a threat, though in her current state everything seemed like a threat. Her heart was pounding in her throat.

[UnityWind]

Izumi imerged from the fields and smiled once she finally found her friends. "Kouji. Akkiko." she said, slightly out of breath, as she walked towards them. "I'm so glad you guys are ok. Have you heard or even seen the others?" Izumi asked. Then her gaze shifted to Akiko for a minute. There was something about her. Somethnig wasn't right and Izumi could tell. "Akiko, what's wrong?" the blonde asked calmly.