Yamato Ishida (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
angry_friendship_wolf) wrote2016-10-22 10:39 pm
angry_friendship_wolf) wrote2016-10-22 10:39 pm
Etemon Arc Aftermath, part 2
For a long time, the children are silent.
Where the pyramid had stood, where Taichi, MetalGreymon, and Etemon had battled, there is only sand, and the quietly whistling wind. Yamato can hear his heart thudding in his chest, as his thoughts race and stutter in his head, as he tries to make sense of what he just saw.
Taichi’s gone. Vanished into some swirling distortion.
“We need to find shelter,” he hears himself say, and he doesn’t know how he manages to sound so cold. “We can’t be caught outside when the temperature drops. Sora, get everyone ready to move. Koushiro, find a cave or a building on your map.”
“Yamato …” Sora starts, staring at him.
“We need rest,” he says, maybe a little too quickly. “And then tomorrow …” He realises that everyone is watching him now, staring at him intently, the way they usually stared at Taichi while waiting for instructions.
Except he isn’t Taichi. He can’t do what Taichi does. But -- but for now, at least, he has to try.
“Tomorrow we find Taichi,” he says.
“Yamato, you saw what happened,” Jyou says, voice trembling. “I think he’s -- …”
“In all likelihood, the distortion would have torn him apart,” Koushiro says. “It’s very unlikely that he survived passing through it, and even if he did, the chances of it sending him anywhere habitable are miniscule.”
“A lot of stuff that’s not likely has happened to us already,” Yamato pushes. “Back at summer camp, you wouldn’t have said it was possible for us to get dragged to another world, Koushiro. It was a miracle that we survived our first day here, an even bigger miracle that we defeated Devimon, pretty much impossible that we would all find our Crests. A week ago, could any of you have imagined that we’d defeat Etemon?”
He can see their moods lifting, just a little. Maybe just enough.
“Taichi’s done more impossible things than the rest of us put together. Trust that he’s survived this,” Yamato says. “And if you can’t do that, then trust me.”
For nearly a minute, they just watch him. Yamato knows he can’t be persuasive like Taichi is, that he doesn’t have the same charisma, that if it was Taichi talking now, they’d have all agreed.
“I trust you,” Takeru says, eventually. “Let’s find him.”
Sora gives a quick nod. “Piyomon and I are in, too. If he’s out there, we can find him.”
Yamato’s heart lifts, but the momentum grinds to a stop there, the others turning away, frowning. Takeru and Sora were easy sells -- but Jyou and Koushiro are more pragmatic, and Mimi hasn’t said anything since Taichi vanished.
“Let’s do it. We’ve not got anything else, right?” Jyou’s partner, Gomamon, says cheerfully. “I’ll ask the fishes to go find him. Just, er, as soon as we find some fishes in this desert.”
Jyou hunches his shoulders slightly, and meets Yamato’s gaze over his glasses. “Then I guess that’s the two of us in.”
“I’ll start looking for shelter,” Koushiro says, opening his laptop. “And I’ll see if I can contact Gennai and ask if he knows anything about Taichi’s location.”
Koushiro gets to work, with Tentomon hovering behind him, and Yamato takes that as agreement, of a sort. All of which just leaves Mimi and Palmon.
“I want to go home,” Mimi says, staring at the sand. “I want to see my parents. I want to sleep in my own bed. I want to go to school, and see my friends, and eat actual, proper food that isn’t cooked over a fire. I don’t want to be walking for hours, or to have people trying to kill us every day, or sleep on the ground in a cave.”
“Mimi …” Palmon says quietly.
Before Yamato can say anything, Sora approaches, crouching down in front of Mimi.
“I know,” she says. “It’s not just you. We all feel like that. We’ll go home soon, okay?”
“We’ll go home together,” Yamato says. “All seven of us.”
Mimi shuts her eyes for a moment, then nods, standing and taking Sora’s arm. “If he doesn’t show up quickly, I’m going to be so angry with him.”
A few minutes later, Koushiro finds a cave on his map, and they start walking.
Yamato knows he’s no Taichi, but maybe, for now, he can try.
Where the pyramid had stood, where Taichi, MetalGreymon, and Etemon had battled, there is only sand, and the quietly whistling wind. Yamato can hear his heart thudding in his chest, as his thoughts race and stutter in his head, as he tries to make sense of what he just saw.
Taichi’s gone. Vanished into some swirling distortion.
“We need to find shelter,” he hears himself say, and he doesn’t know how he manages to sound so cold. “We can’t be caught outside when the temperature drops. Sora, get everyone ready to move. Koushiro, find a cave or a building on your map.”
“Yamato …” Sora starts, staring at him.
“We need rest,” he says, maybe a little too quickly. “And then tomorrow …” He realises that everyone is watching him now, staring at him intently, the way they usually stared at Taichi while waiting for instructions.
Except he isn’t Taichi. He can’t do what Taichi does. But -- but for now, at least, he has to try.
“Tomorrow we find Taichi,” he says.
“Yamato, you saw what happened,” Jyou says, voice trembling. “I think he’s -- …”
“In all likelihood, the distortion would have torn him apart,” Koushiro says. “It’s very unlikely that he survived passing through it, and even if he did, the chances of it sending him anywhere habitable are miniscule.”
“A lot of stuff that’s not likely has happened to us already,” Yamato pushes. “Back at summer camp, you wouldn’t have said it was possible for us to get dragged to another world, Koushiro. It was a miracle that we survived our first day here, an even bigger miracle that we defeated Devimon, pretty much impossible that we would all find our Crests. A week ago, could any of you have imagined that we’d defeat Etemon?”
He can see their moods lifting, just a little. Maybe just enough.
“Taichi’s done more impossible things than the rest of us put together. Trust that he’s survived this,” Yamato says. “And if you can’t do that, then trust me.”
For nearly a minute, they just watch him. Yamato knows he can’t be persuasive like Taichi is, that he doesn’t have the same charisma, that if it was Taichi talking now, they’d have all agreed.
“I trust you,” Takeru says, eventually. “Let’s find him.”
Sora gives a quick nod. “Piyomon and I are in, too. If he’s out there, we can find him.”
Yamato’s heart lifts, but the momentum grinds to a stop there, the others turning away, frowning. Takeru and Sora were easy sells -- but Jyou and Koushiro are more pragmatic, and Mimi hasn’t said anything since Taichi vanished.
“Let’s do it. We’ve not got anything else, right?” Jyou’s partner, Gomamon, says cheerfully. “I’ll ask the fishes to go find him. Just, er, as soon as we find some fishes in this desert.”
Jyou hunches his shoulders slightly, and meets Yamato’s gaze over his glasses. “Then I guess that’s the two of us in.”
“I’ll start looking for shelter,” Koushiro says, opening his laptop. “And I’ll see if I can contact Gennai and ask if he knows anything about Taichi’s location.”
Koushiro gets to work, with Tentomon hovering behind him, and Yamato takes that as agreement, of a sort. All of which just leaves Mimi and Palmon.
“I want to go home,” Mimi says, staring at the sand. “I want to see my parents. I want to sleep in my own bed. I want to go to school, and see my friends, and eat actual, proper food that isn’t cooked over a fire. I don’t want to be walking for hours, or to have people trying to kill us every day, or sleep on the ground in a cave.”
“Mimi …” Palmon says quietly.
Before Yamato can say anything, Sora approaches, crouching down in front of Mimi.
“I know,” she says. “It’s not just you. We all feel like that. We’ll go home soon, okay?”
“We’ll go home together,” Yamato says. “All seven of us.”
Mimi shuts her eyes for a moment, then nods, standing and taking Sora’s arm. “If he doesn’t show up quickly, I’m going to be so angry with him.”
A few minutes later, Koushiro finds a cave on his map, and they start walking.
Yamato knows he’s no Taichi, but maybe, for now, he can try.