Okay! So, I only got this price to draft status in time for Yamato Ishida week, but I am quite happy with it thus far and I wanted to share it for the Bad Moon Rising Prompt. This is my first Digimon piece in quite some time, so here goes.
Also, a huge thank you to @tangledupblue for organising this event!
A Companion Piece to Tri: Of Honesty and Loyalty
Everything is topsy turvey here, Steph Summers decided as she surveyed the forest around her.
Everything in this world looked the same as her own - but there were subtle differences, as though someone had tried to create this world from a picture and gotten all the textures wrong. The strawberries that they had eaten on their first day tasted sour instead of sweet.
Even the dirt beneath her feet felt different.
She’d needed a break, she realised. After three days of treking through strange forests full of road signs and running from the sort of monsters Steph couldn’t even conjure up in her worst nightmares. It wasn’t really any wonder then, given the circumstances, that she’d landed up in such a nasty argument with her younger cousin over their situation.
The occasional spat between them wasn’t uncommon, but it usually it took a few hours before one of them would calm down enough so that they could talk about it. Steph was so used to this pattern that she was surprised when she heard the sound of footfalls approaching from behind her.
“I told you that I needed a minute - ”
She whirled around, her words dying in her throat when she saw it wasn’t her cousin standing behind her, but rather Matt Ishida, his hands help up in a mock surrender.
“Oh,” she muttered, feeling the heat rise in her cheeks. “I thought you were … never mind.”
In her defence, he was, perhaps the last person Steph would have expected to have followed her from the campsite.
Of the nine other children she’d been sent to this new world along with, Matt had been the most difficult for her to get a read on thus far. So far, she’s gathered he was the complete opposite to Tai; where Tai was constantly urging them on, Matt had been surprisingly considerate. He ensured Tai gave them adequate breaks and checked in on the younger kids, including her cousin. He was also incredibly unpredictable, going from calm and collect one moment to flying of the handle the next, usually in response to something Tai did or said.
Whatever contempt he held for her soccer captain was entirely absent from his expression as he sat down on the ground beside her, hugging his knees against his chest and staring at the grass. Even the grass here felt different - like soft felt instead of fibrous plant matter. “Things got pretty heated back there,” he commented, keeping his tone light. “Do you want to tell me what you were both yelling about?”
She stared at him, unable to read his intentions. She wondered perhaps if he knew them himself - after all, he didn’t exactly strike her as the sort of person who initiated conversation very often.
“It was nothing - just family stuff,” she sighed. “We were arguing about who’s fault it was that we all ended up here - wherever here is,” she gestured at the surrounding air for emphasis and prompting him to raise an eyebrow questioningly.
“I think the jury is still out on that one,” he said. “That is, unless the both of you know something we don’t.”
Steph shook her head. “That’s not what I meant - I don’t know how we ended up here, in the Digital World specifically - but I do know that it’s my fault we’re both here because it was my decision to go to summer camp this year,” she explained. “Becky would have much preferred to stay home for the summer and hang out with her friends. But I’m the older of the two of us, so I’m usually the one that gets to choose what we do.”
Or at least, that’s the way it used to be, she thought dismally. Of course, it hadn’t mattered who got to pick when they were younger - whatever Steph wanted to do, Becky usually wanted to do too. That wasn’t the case now that they were older, and neither of them were any good at compromising …
“That doesn’t mean it’s your fault that we ended up here,” he told her, oblivious to her internal monologue. “None of us could have have predicted we’d be washed away from camp by a tidal wave and end up in some strange world surrounded by giant bugs and talking monsters.”
Steph didn’t know if it was his choice of words, or the blase way in which he said them that finally coaxed a laugh from her.
“No, I don’t think we could have,” she agreed. “But I shouldn’t have lost my temper,” she added, casting her eyes towards the campsite where she could see Becky surrounded by both Salamon and Patamon. The little orange Digimon was diligently following her instructions to both Becky and Salamon safe. From a distance, there was no hints of turmoil amongst the group.
“Everyone probably thinks I overreacted,” she said with a sigh.
“It’s easy for them,” he muttered, and there was a touch of resentment in his voice. “They don’t have a brother or sister to look out for like we do.”
For some reason, she felt it prudent to correct him. “We’re cousins, actually,” she explained. “We used to be really close when we were kids, but these days we don’t get along so well.”
“The two of you grew up together then?” he guessed.
She nodded. “Yep. Sleepovers are really fun when you’re kids, but I think as we both got older we made our own friends and drifted apart.”
“It’s like you used to be so close to a person that you knew what they were thinking even before they did themselves. And then things changed and now when I try to talk to her, it’s like I’m talking to a stranger.”
“I know the feeling,” he muttered. The revelation that Matt and T.K’s parents were separated had certainly answered some of her earlier questions about the strange relationship between the brothers.
“How long have you been separated for?” she asked tentatively - she knew he had a tendency to lose his temper whenever someone brought up his family situation. But the Matt sitting beside her staring at the grass suddenly seemed very different that the Matt who had been arguing with Tai at every opportunity these last few days.
“A few years,” he admitted. “We see each other for a week or so every summer.”
“That must be hard on the both of you.”
He shrugged, tugging at the blades of grass with his fingers. “I’m used to it - but T.K doesn’t understand. He wasn’t even supposed to come to camp with us, but I think both of my parents let him come just to avoid having a conversation with each other. And now we’re trapped here …” he trailed off.
Steph recognised the feeling of helplessness, of being overwhelmed. “You do a good job of taking care of T.K,” she told him kindly.
He looked up at her, the corners of his mouth forming the first genuine smile she’d seen from him in the three days. “Thanks.”
She smiled nervously, aware of the way his sapphire eyes were fixated on her. “We should get back to the others,” she said reluctantly. “It’s probably not safe to stay separate for too long.”
She glanced back toward the campsite where the others had gathered kindling for a fire. She heard Tai’s voice call out to Agumon, and the small dinosaur Digimon opened his mouth, letting out a jet of fire that set not only the bundle of logs and twigs alight, but also some of the surrounding grass.
A flash of irritation cross Matt’s face at Agumon’s carelessness - it had been a wayward spark from Tai’s campfire earlier that caused Seadramon to attack them earlier. With a tsk of annoyance, he turned away and stretched out against the grass, folding his hands behind his head.
“We’re not that far away,” he insisted as Steph watched Tai hastily stamp out the grass. “Besides, Gabumon’s watching - if there’s any trouble he can just Digivolve to Garurumon.”
Steph could have argued they shouldn’t take unnecessary risks just because his partner could Digivolve now, but thought better of it when she remembered that heading back to the campsite would mean she’d have to apologise to her cousin.
“Just a little longer then,” she conceded, ignoring the slight dampness of the ground as she stretched out beside him and cast her eyes back up at the stars again, thinking back to the many nights she and Becky had done the same on the rooftop of their apartment building. The artificial lights of Tokyo’s skyline had drowned out all but the brightest stars then but here, in the wilderness of the Digital World, the stars lit up the sky like a kaleidoscope.
“I keep studying the constellations,” she told him. “I thought if I could identify one or two of them, I might be able to figure out where we are - or at least get some idea of how much time has passed since we got here.”
She shook her head, forgetting that he couldn’t see her face. “Not yet,” she admitted. “I don’t recognise a single one of these constellations - which is weird because constellations are made up of stars that are a million light years away. Even if we were on another planet in the galaxy, they would still appear in the same patterns as they would on Earth. Unless of course we were in another galaxy, but that’s just crazy talk…”
She trailed off, acutely aware that she was rambling, which she knew was one of her less endearing qualities. Usually, when she rambled, Tai would tell her that she was being weird again and Becky would complain that she was over complicating things.
Matt did neither of those things, but instead had let her ramble until she’d simply run out of words to say and silence fell over them both. When she turned her head to look at him she saw that he lay unmoving beside her, looking up at the stars. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence, Steph realised, but rather a contented one. She felt better having gotten things off her chest, even if she hadn’t expected to unload those feelings on someone who was basically a stranger to her.
“That one looks like a rabbit,” he said after a moment.
Steph blinked, somewhat confused. “What?”
He pointed up to the sky. “That constellation - it reminds me of a rabbit.”
Steph squinted at the sky, attempting to follow his line of sight until she found a group of stars hovering above the horizon. “That looks nothing like a rabbit,” she said slowly.
“Yes it does,” he insisted, tracing the stars with his fingers to demonstrate. “That’s the head … and those stars are the ears. And that star over there is the tail. See?”
She did, sort of. “Okay, it’s a rabbit,” she conceded, then she grinned. “A very demented looking rabbit.”
He tsked, dropping his hand so that it came to on the grass between them. When he spoke next, his voice was challenging; “I’d like to see you come up with a better one then.”
She huffed, casting her eyes up at the stars again. “There,” she said finally, pointing. “That one looks like a dragon.”
“Where?” There was excitement in his voice as he inched closer to her on the grass, his shoulder bumping roughy against hers.
“Over there,” she said, unable the keep from laughing as he squinted up at the sky.
“Okay,” he said after a moment. “I sort of see it.” He scanned the sky again, then grinned. “That one looks like Gabumon!”
They stayed like that for a long time, pointing out different shapes and debating with one another whether one group of stars looked more like a donkey or a lion; a saucepan or a bowler hat. And when they’d finally run out of inventive ideas, Steph felt a whole lot better about her situation.
Matt was right, no one was really at fault for their situation, all they could do now was do their best to look after one another while they searched for a way home. Together.
“Thanks, Matt,” she told him. “For … you know.”
He smiled, and this time, she knew it was genuine. “Anytime.”
They made their way back to the campsite where Tai and Agumon had taken first watch again, and thus far had avoided setting anything else on fire. The rest of their party had fallen asleep, except for Becky, who was curled up with Patamon and Salamon by the fire. Her cousin looked tired, but more importantly, she didn’t look angry anymore. Steph knew they’d both sleep better if they cleared the air.
“I’m sorry I made you come to camp with me this summer,” she said.
“S’ok,” Becky mumbled, stifling a yawn as she lifted the edge of the thin blanket for Steph to scoot underneath, careful not to disturb the two Digimon sleeping peacefully between them.
“It’s not,” Steph told her. “If you had stayed home, you wouldn’t have landed up stuck here along with me.”
Brown eyes stared resolutely back at her, confirming what she already knew; staying behind had never been an option for Becky. No matter how angry they were at one another, they didn’t leave each other behind. It made Steph feel all the guiltier for dragging them into this mess.
“I’m going to find a way for us to get home,” she said, her tone resolute. “And until I do, I’m going to keep you safe, no matter what it takes.”
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