FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

As you all know I am not connected to Bandai in anyway, so I don't have any claim to the digimon characters I use. However, the idea for shifters is mine and anyone who tries to take it as their own without my express permission will be sued.

Serenity

Pain... blinding pain that swallowed everything, it threw me into a world of blackness and a cascade of colors so bright that it boggled the mind to the point of insanity and beyond, then pulled you back over the edge only to push you back over again. I felt all of this just as I felt myself being carried and put down on a bed, and with each breath and every bump I could feel myself slipping further and further into oblivion only to be held back by some unknown force to linger in an ocean of agony and suffering.

After what seemed like hours or maybe an eternity my brain finally went into a state of numbness that left my world shrouded in a red mist that clouded my vision, but somehow from some great distant I heard muffled voices, some sounded familiar while others I hadn't heard before but all of them sounded either frantic, angry, or worried. I thought at some point that I heard Chad but the way he was speaking it sounded like he was worried or hurt, and it made my heart ache to know that he was like that. When I tried to move everything felt like lead and I realized I felt cold for the first time, after awhile I started to feel like I was sinking and as I did the red mist slowly faded into blackness and I stopped feeling the pain all together.

I stayed like that for some time until everything else faded along with it.

When I finally came to I found myself in a place that could only be described as a nightmare. The first thing I noticed was the blood red sky and the strange featureless moon that hung in the air is if put their as an afterthought, and when I looked around I almost fell backwards from sheer terror. Before me stood a tree and everything about it gave me a feeling of pure sorrow and pain. The branches and limbs looked silky and twisted, the bark was an ashen grey, and it had no leaves but the thing that got to me the most was the trunk.

It was shaped like the body of a human with its arms reaching into the sky at odd angles as branches grew from its head and fingertips. The most disturbing thing about it was the look of pain on its face and the way it looked off into the distance with hollow sockets where the eyes should be. That is when I realized it wasn't the only one; I was standing in a forest of these things, each with different faces and bodies.

Everywhere I turned I saw twisted shapes in the moonlight, grotesque dead trees that looked like people stood around me with looks of torment, their faces locked in silent agony as they stared off blankly into the distance.

This place reeked of pain, I quickly turned around to look behind me as I got the feeling that someone or something was watching me but I was met only with the blank stare of more trees. I took a step forward and heard a sloshing sound; I looked down and found I was standing in what looked to be water.

I looked back at the tree before me and for some reason I felt the sudden urge to touch it, my rational mind told me to leave it alone because it was unnatural and dangerous but for some reason the rest of my body seemed to move on its own.

I couldn't help but want to run my fingers over the ashen bark of the tree before me, to feel the smooth looking skin of the tree beneath the palm of my paw, I watched mesmerized as my body moved on its own and raised my left hand slowly towards the trunk of the strange tree before me.

As I watched my body moved almost painfully slow towards the trunk of the tree that seemed for all intents and purposes like a real living and breathing person frozen in time, I was just a couple of inches away now and my body just wouldn't seem to go any faster almost like it was savoring the anticipation of reaching its goal.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Hehehe"

I suddenly snapped out of my strange state as a shiver ran up my spine and jerked my hand back like I had been about to put it in the mouth of a hungry Saber Leomon, then I jerked my head around to find the source of the voice only to have my gaze come to rest on a small human girl with a sadistic grin on her face as she looked back at me standing a little ways off to my left.

Just the way she grinned was enough to make me take a couple of steps back from her. I could tell just by the look in her eye's that there was something not right with he. I quickly looked the little girl over as I put some five feet of distance between us; she was wearing a small white ruffle dress that came down to just above her knees as well as knee high leather boots and pinstriped stockings that went from the top of her boots and vanished beneath the hem of her dress.

The girl couldn't have been more than twelve or thirteen years old from the looks of her but when I made eye contact with her I felt this wholly disturbing sensation that gave me the distinct impression that this child could very well wipe me from the face of reality and I for one had no doubt in my mind that she probably would do it if she so much as got the idea to.

As I looked her in the eyes I found I was unable to take my gaze from hers, I watched her expression change for sadistic satisfaction to a disappointed pout. I had no doubt that it was because I had listened to her warning and pulled my hand away from the tree.

"Who are you" I asked warily.

The girl didn't seem to hear me as she grumbled something under her breath about adding another one to her collection.

Just then she looked at me with a blank expression and started talking, "I don't know what you're doing in my garden digimon but this is no place for the likes of you, I suggest you leave now before I add you to it" she said.

*just what is with this girl, the way her personality changed so suddenly is frightening by its self but to be this severe she must be insane* I thought.

Just then the look on her face went from blank to pure rage, I only saw her lean forward a little before I felt something grab my throat and lift me up off the ground.

"What was that you called me you worthless little speck?!?" I heard the girl yell as pain exploded in my neck and my ability to breath was stopped by the crushing grip of the hand that now somehow held me several feet above the ground. I struggled against the hand that held me as I looked at the girl.

"I'm sorry, please let me go, I can't breathe," I gasped.

The little girls expression just got worse as I felt her grip tighten on my throat, "You worthless little ingrate, I could kill you with just a thought, I can wipe you from existence with a snap of my fingers" the little girl growled as she looked at me.

"Put her down now," came a quiet voice from behind me.

As I started to black out I saw a look of fear flash across the girls face before she let me slip from her hand, "Your lucky. If not for her I would have killed you and added your soul to my collection," she said as I hit water and sank to my knees coughing.

As I sat there and tried to get my body working I felt a hand come to rest on my shoulder, "are you ok my child?" the voice said to me.

I nodded as I coughed a few times, my eye's were watering and I could feel bruise's starting to form on my neck as I ran my fingers over the spot the girl had been squeezing, I tried to catch my breath as I felt the hand on my shoulder start to slide down and rub my back.

"Take your time my child, take your time, there is no need to rush you are safe now" the soft voice said as my breathing started to return to normal.

I couldn't quite place it but I knew that somehow I knew this voice, remembered it from some distant memory that I couldn't quit recall from my time's as an infant level digimon, but somehow I knew that with her I really was safe. It was almost like I was home with my mother again.

I soon caught my breath and began wiping the tears from my eyes as I looked around to make sure the girl really was gone before I looked over my shoulder at my savior.

The person kneeling down behind me was beautiful beyond measure, everything about her was absolutely perfect in every detail, the waist length raven black hair that slipped down from her head and over the right side of her face hiding her right eye from view, the pale color of her skin, the bright ruby color of her lips that seemed to glisten in this strange light, her slender yet elegant frame draped in a strangely beautiful black dress that ended well past her feet and seemed to grow from the surface of the water and stretched to an astounding eight feet height, yet her body and even her ample breasts where perfectly proportioned, everything around us seemed to accentuate the beauty of this woman like nothing I could truly describe.

As I looked at the woman I couldn't help but get the sense that I had missed being with her for far too long and had to stop myself from crying on the spot. The woman must have noticed this because she smiled down at me as she extended her open hand which I took only to be pulled off of the ground and onto my feet.

"It seems she did not do any serious damage to you young one," she said with a motherly smile that made my knee's grow weak.

As I watched she slowly turned around and started moving away from me with only a glance over her shoulder to see if I was following, even without realizing it my body had already started moving on its own and I could hear the sound of sloshing water as my feet and legs forced their way through the shallow liquid.

I did not know for how long we walked but I never seemed to grow tired and just being in this woman's presence seemed to ease me of any pain I was in. As I watched the woman before me lead the way I did not notice that when she moved she seemed to float across the water and no sound issued from her nor was there even a hint of a ripple at her passing.

Eventually we came to a large black castle that towered into the sky like nothing I had ever seen before. How I had missed it when I first arrived I do not know, but there must have been hundreds of floors to it that I could see and that wasn't even including the ones that I couldn't make out on its many towers. As I tried to take it all in I felt my breath catch in my throat from the magnificence of it. This castle seemed to be pulled from the very blackness of night its self.

The sheer size of the building and the height of the towers coupled with the fact that it seemed to suck in almost every bit of light that touched it was awe inspiring and imposing at the same time.

It took me a second to realize that the woman that had led me hear had continued on without me and was now half way up the front stairs to the main door. I quickly hurried after and had only just caught up to her at the top of the stairs when she turned around to look at me and that is the first time I got a good look at her eyes, at least the one I could see. Her eye was pure black even darker than the castle on which we stood, it seemed to me as I looked into it like I was being sucked into a void.

That sense was broken when she blinked and smiled at me, "Welcome to my home young renamon, you and your kind have always been welcomed here but it has been some time since any have visited me."

What she said struck me as odd but before I could ask her what she meant she turned and waved her hand at the giant door behind her. As if by some invisible force it creaked inward, for some reason I couldn't help but get the sense that what lay inside had not been privy to the eyes of others for a long time.

Without realizing it my body had moved on its own once more, to follow the strange and beautiful woman that had led me here. As I walked along behind her I was floored by the richness of this place. The floor was covered in a rich burgundy carpeting that was so plush I could feel myself sink into it with each step, and as I looked around I saw that the furniture was made of what looked like oak. Everything was for more opulent than anything I was use to, even the palace of the kitsune clan of the holy light was nothing in comparison to this place and its beauty.

After some time of being lead up and down stairs and through halls, I was lead to a magnificent throne room that seemed to dwarf anything that I had seen on my way here. The center walkway was again carpeted with the same burgundy carpet and sconces lined the many pillars that lead from the gigantic door we had entered to the strange and beautiful throne that sat atop a raised dais that stood about twenty feet in the air and flanking the bottom of the steps leading up to it stood two statue's that where larger than life and crafted so well that just looking at I could have sworn I saw them breathing.

I looked more closely at the statues and realized I was looking at a fully armored renamon on my left and a fully armored were-garurumon on my right and each held wicked looking weapons and stood at attention as if guarding the throne room. I knew that both in some way where considered nightmare soldiers at one point but only a few years ago had I learned that in a duel for the favor of the nightmare queen had the kitsune won and taken the reins of power from the wolf digimon, yet strangely enough, before me now stood both statues.

Somehow I found my voice as I looked around the room and spotted the strange woman ascending the steps up to the throne. I walked toward her and watched as she reached the top only to turn around and take a seat on the throne and look down at me, my knees went weak again as I know realized exactly where I was. I fell to one knee before the only person my kind had held in reverence since the beginning of the digital world.

I bowed to the woman before me in awe as I tried not to think of what I had done to disrespect her just on the walk here alone, not to mention the fact that she had saved my life from that strange child earlier.

"I am unworthy to be in your presence my queen" I said in a hushed voice, then I shook my head to correct my mistake, "No please forgive me for my ignorance....great queen of the nightmare soldiers, my matron.....my mother."

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Kate

I half dragged, half supported Chad as we hurried away from the large chamber and toward the front of the cave with him pointing the way, which seemed strange to me in an odd way after seeing him do what he had to that strange creature from that hole in the ground, but I was quickly reminded about how dire our situation was by the smell of blood that was pouring from his body and the grunts of pain he issued every time he took a major jolt in our hurry to escape those strange things that had captured me.

"Fuck why didn't it work?!" he gasped as he clutched his left side with his right hand and tried to slow the bleeding from the wound he had received from that thing.

"Will you stop fucking with that thing? Damn it can't you see it's broken?!" I grunted at him as he tried to run a card through his reader again, his legs once again almost gave out on him as we hurried as quickly as possible towards the exit.

I heard skittering coming closer from behind us and was about to look back to see how far those creatures were when Chad suddenly lurched forward twisting us until we were facing the way we had come and almost throwing me off balance as we brought up his right hand and clenched it into a fist then slammed it into the wall to our right. I watched in amazement as dark energy raced along the wall for about twenty feet before arching toward the top of the tunnel, that's when everything around me was drowned out by a deafening roar as the energy exploded.

I watched in horror as the ceiling of the tunnel started to collapse just as one of those things came around the corner only to be crushed under a large chunk of rock, but I was quickly brought back to my senses as Chad twisted his body and turned us around back toward the entrance of the cave and started forward again with the sound of crumbling rocks filling the tunnel behind us.

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Chad

It took us about ten minutes in our current situation to make it to the cave entrance but as soon as we hit it I took as deep a breath as I could so I could get the smell of blood and death out of my nose. After that was done I pursed my lips together and let out a loud shrill whistle that made Kate jump and jar my wound which caused me to grunt in pain.

"Watch what you're doing you stupid cat" I grunted as I watched the little spring creature come bounding out of the bushes to our left and come skidding to a halt about five feet in front of us ready to go. It gave me a weird look before turning and scurrying off, without even explaining to Kate why the thing was there we started off after the thing as fast as we could.

Luckily the thing stayed close to us so Kate and I could follow but unlike before it didn't lead us through the roundabout path past all the plants and stuff that stood between us and the boat. Several times I had to use my power to kill a plant or some weird kind of animal that popped out of nowhere and tried to attack us and with each step I took I could feel myself slipping way into unconsciousness.

It took us about another twenty minutes to get to the place where we first came in contact with the little spring creature. It came to a stop in the clearing and looked back at us, "Marp," it gave out one of its little barks as it looked between me and Kate and sat down.

"Why isn't it leading us anymore Chad?" Kate asked as she shifted her grip on my left arm and readjusted my position, I had to admit she was a lot stronger than I gave her credit for, dealing with getting caught and almost turned into a monster baby maker then having to drag my dumb ass through a wild and dangerous jungle and she was only now starting to show fatigue.

"Because he can't or won't go any farther than this Kate," I said as I looked around to get my bearings.

She shot me a quizzical look before switching her gaze back to the spring creature, "You mean he's going to stay here?" she asked as she looked behind us.

I could only nod at this point because I was starting to feel weak and sick to my stomach from the blood I had lost and what I had swallowed on the trip here, Kate looked like she was going to say something but just as she opened her mouth a deep rumbling erupted from ground around us.

The little creature got up into an attack position when something ran through the bushes to our right, "Chad?, what the hell is going on?!" Kate yelled as we where almost knocked off of our feet by increasing strength of the shaking from the ground, something caught my attention of to the left and I silently cursed as I watched the ground start to form into a mound of dirt, I watched as the mound grew larger trying to will my body into action through my sluggish haze. Finally my body responded and we lurched forward just as the first insect burst from the ground and into the air as it fired off its spine which just narrowly missed hitting me in the face.

However I didn't get off Scott free as one of the spines sliced into my ear causing me to flinch as the pain registered in my brain. I looked around and saw two more pieces of dirt starting to act just like the first one and I silently cursed myself for being so stupid that I would let myself get injured like this.

The little spring creature was lashing its tail and tongue around with quick precise strikes and with each hit one of the insects fell either dead or unconscious. I quickly took stock of the situation and realized that it was a hopeless cause to remain here any longer so I pushed Kate forward as fast as I could and as we ran I reached out with my right hand and grabbed the little spring creature around its midsection and tucked it under my arm causing it to yelp in surprise as I did before we pushed through the think plant life of the spring and made our way toward the wall of churning fog.

It took us a minute but we finally made it to the other side of the thick wall and hurried off toward the boat, on our way their I spotted my scarf hanging from a tree branch like some makeshift basket with the bottle of data poking out of the top.

Kate must have spotted it to because just as we passed it she reached out with her left hand and snatched it off the branch and grabbed my arm again in one fluid motion, as soon as we hit the boat I dropped the spring creature and grabbed hold of the edge giving it a hard push that strained my ability to stay conscious but got the boat from its resting place on shore and into the water.

The creature jumped in and I collapsed over the edge of the boat and somehow managed to pull myself in just as I heard those insects burst into the clearing behind us, just then the boats engine sputtered to life just as the first volley of spines hit the side of the boat.

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Kate pushed the old boat engine for all she was worth as she deftly maneuvered us through the trees and back toward the village, I couldn't tell how much time had passed in the spring but I did notice from my spot on the bottom of the boat that the sun was going down which meant we didn't have much time before Serenity bit the big one and lost her code to the ring.

"Kate you have to listen to me very closely, I'm going to give you some instructions on what to do after I help Serenity alright?" I said as I lifted my head and looked at her.

She scowled at me like I was some annoying telemarketer, "Shut your mouth you dumb bastard, you can do it yourself after we get back to doc's" she said as she jerked the steering arm hard to her left, I closed my eyes from the pain it caused and fought hard not to black out.

"Damn it Kate this is serious!" I grunted as I glared at her, I must have surprised her because she looked shocked. Finally she gave me a stern look and nodded her head in agreement.

For the next few minutes I explained to her about what was going to happen and what she and Serenity would have to do, by the time I finished she had cut the engine and was throwing the rope over the side of the boat saying nothing as she went about the task of lashing the boat to the dock of her village.

I managed to push myself up and spotted a gaggle of anthro's at the end of the pier. Kate grabbed the bottle from the floor of the boat before grabbing my left arm and hauling me up enough that I could push myself up onto the dock.

I must have looked like quite a site because as soon as they saw me several of the anthro's bolted forward to see what had happened a couple of them even tried to help me but I waved them off as I forced myself to get up despite my wounds and the blood loss. I turned and grabbed the bottle from Kate as her friends helped her up and started off toward the doc's hut.

I had just made it to the middle of the pier when a large male wolf anthro came stalking around the corner, as soon as he got a look at me I saw the look on his face falter but he seem to catch himself and kept walking toward me as anger flared in his eyes, he opened his mouth to say something but before he could get it out I backhanded him in the mouth, I didn't even bother to look back as I heard a splash followed by several yells.

It took me about a minute before I stood at the door that lead into the medical hut. I stalled for a minute for some reason dreading what I knew I had to do despite the fact that it could cost me my life.

*Damn it why did my leg and bottles have to break like that, if I had them I could just walk in there and do it but....* I thought as I put my left hand on the door and closed my eyes, taking a deep breath I steeled myself as I reached down and lifted the latch that held the door closed, I pushed it away and it gave a long low creak as light poured into the reception area which was deserted, the smell of medicinal herbs stirred something in the back of my mind that sent a chill across my skin.

I forced myself to walk a couple of steps into the hut as I looked around to see if anyone was hiding inside but I saw no one, for some reason I felt my heartbeat quicken as I made my way to the busted door that was now propped up against the wall to keep out unwanted guests, I paused as I caught a sent I knew all too well as it drifted from behind the door.

The scent of blood was like a slight undertone to the medical herbs that reeked in this place and for some reason I knew that the fact it wasn't stronger meant that the digimon had either succeeded in sealing the wound at least or she was already dead. I slowly reached for the door but jumped when I felt something touch my shoulder, I quickly turned around to find Kate standing behind me with a look of resolve etched into her features as she looked at me.

"You won't know anything until you go in Chad", she said as I turned back to the door.

I reached for the edge of it and pushed forcing it out of my way as a million different things ran through my head, but the one that stayed in the front was always the same, *Am I to late?*

I looked around the room but all I saw was that the curtain was pulled and the sorcerymon was nowhere to be found, I tried to move into the room but for some reason my body didn't want to respond, I could feel a cold sweat break out over my skin as I looked into the room, and my breath caught in my throat.

*What are you doing you little fool, you're getting worked up over a damned female!, and a Digimon at that!* came the voice in my mind.

That snapped me out of my shock as I took a solid step into the room and made my way to the curtain that stood between me and my charge, flinging it aside I saw Serenity laying on the cot with her hands at her sides, the large hole in her stomach was covered with bandages and I saw leaves sticking out of the edges meaning the sorcerymon had indeed sealed the wound at least for now, I spun on my heels as I heard something behind me and just as I turned I saw one of the sorcerymon come into the room carrying fresh linens, when it saw me and Kate it dropped the linens and bolted from the door in a flash. I tried to go after it but pain lanced up my left side as the wound on my chest cracked open letting fresh blood ooze out through my shirt which was now more brown than black.

Kate saw what I had done and pushed me into the chair by the bedside and practically yanked my shirt off of me, she couldn't get it over my wings though so she just worked my arms and head around until the shirt was over them and hanging off the part where my wings met my back, when that was done she took a good look at the wound and almost fainted from the look of her.

She quickly turned and started looking through the digimon herb collection until she found what looked like a rag she thought she could use then she turned back to me and started wiping around my wounds trying to get the dried blood off of my chest.

She had just finished wiping me down when the sorcerymon from earlier returned and was followed by the one called doc. He quickly came over to me and started looking me over shaking his head with an astonished look in his eyes before turning back to Kate.

"Why didn't you put him in one of the cots?, These wounds need to be treated immediately before they become infected!" he said as he tried to pull me up off of the chair toward a bed, I smacked his hand away from me and grabbed him by his scarf.

Pulling him close to my face, I spoke as best I could in my current condition, "The reason is because I have to do something to do before I can take care of myself" I said.

I held up the small bottle of liquid and showed it to the digimon before I spoke again, "This is pure data from the region you call the wraith zone, this should be enough to heal the female but I am going to need all three of you to do what comes next" I said calmly.

The look in the digimon eyes as he looked at the bottle was something I couldn't pin down, maybe it was from the blood loss but it seemed like he had either hope or greed in his eyes before he looked at me.

"What do you want us to do shifter" he said.

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"Your insane shifter that could very well kill you!" the sorcerymon said to me as I looked down at Serenity's sleeping form.

"We don't have any other choice Digimon, I have already had this argument with Kate and I will not have it again" I said. "This female will live...even if that means I have to die to make sure that happens".

Both Digimon looked at me with a mix of fear and astonishment as I held my left arm over serenity with my palm up, I let my arm drop down so that it made a crude path directly to the hole in Serenity's stomach then I looked over at the sorceressmon how was standing on the other side of the cot looking back at me with uncertainty in her eyes.

I fixed her with a hard gaze as I spoke to everyone in the room, "I will not take no for an answer either I will do this with your help or without it" I stated. I kept my voice level as I looked into the eyes of the sorceressmon "What will it be?" I asked in an even tone.

I don't know exactly what the female digimon saw in my face but the look in her eyes turned from uncertainty to a look of resolve before she reached out with both hands and latched onto two of fingers and began chanting, as I watched her a faint whitish glow surrounded her body.

"My mate what are you doing?!" the one called Doc yelled at his mate, "Surely you don't mean to help him with this insane plan of his?!"

The female didn't answer him until she had finished her spell, the look of determination never left her eyes as she tightened her grip on my fingers making sure that I wouldn't be able to get away from her as she spoke to her mate.

"I do indeed my love" she said.

"But why!!" Doc yelled as he looked at his mate, even as this went on I felt Kate press up against my back and hook her arms over my wings and under my arms then she wrapped her right leg around mine locking it into place so that I wouldn't be able to move.

Again the female digimon chanted and after she finished I felt Kate's grip tighten considerably from what it originally had been.

The female digimon looked at her mate and spoke softly but with strength, "Because you had that same look when you helped me all those years ago".

This seemed to catch the sorcerymon off guard as he hung his head, I watched the whole exchange waiting for them to finish, finally the one called Doc looked at me and gave a heavy sigh before going to his work table. I watched as he grabbed herbs, jars, and bandages and set up his station within a matter of seconds before he turned back to me and spoke "I won't be able to do much more than prolong your life with what I have here shifter, however it should be enough time for us to get you to the nearest city" he stated simply before taking the bottle from the table I had set it on during my explanation and grabbing a wooden chair.

I watched as he walked over to me dragging the chair behind him and positioning it near the wall on my left side. He had to push the cot behind us back before he got it in the right position. It only took a few seconds before he was standing on top of it with the bottle in his right hand and his left hand on the lid.

"No matter what I say or do don't stop any of you not even for a second" I said before I nodded to the Doc and braced myself for what came next.

I watched as the digimon unscrewed the cap on the bottle and tossed it behind me, I didn't heard it hit the floor so I assumed he threw it onto the cot behind us, he raised the bottle and positioned it over my arm just below the skull mark, he tipped the bottle and a small stream of liquid pour out of it and hit my arm.

Instantly I felt searing pain flood my brain as the liquid ran down the skin of my arm and into my hand before running between my finger, as it did this I gritted my teeth from the pain as I watched the liquid data turn from clear to a deep crimson color, the male digimon called doc tipped the bottle a little more letting it run faster over my skin and the pain in my arm increased tenfold almost making me pass out on the spot. I tried to fight off the pain as the liquid that ran down my arm carved out grooves of flesh and mixed with it to create a less concentrated form of data for Serenity to absorb.

I took a quick look down at Serenity and as I watched I saw the data fall from my hand and arm onto her body, at first nothing happened but ever so slowly the data that fell onto the bandages and her fur started to sink into her body as its natural instinct to survive kicked in and absorbed the closest source of data to it,

I tried to hold out as long as I could but the pain was just too much and my body wanted to give out on me, the only thing keeping that from happening was the fact that Kate was holding me up. I could feel myself slipping away with each second that passed but for some reason I couldn't pass out, that's when I noticed that someone was yelling.

I looked around to try and find out how it was but both of the digimon had stern looks on their faces and somehow I could tell it wasn't them, I also knew it wasn't Kate because it didn't sound like her yelling and believe me I heard enough of that in the cave.

That's when I realized it was me, I knew that the pain had been bad but it wasn't even aware of when I started screaming from it. I looked at the bottle and saw that it was almost empty, then I looked down at my arm and almost got sick from the sight of it. I've had bad injuries before but I had always had my abyssal patch card to keep the wounds covered and looking at my arm now was one of the most painfully horrifying things I had ever seen. The raw data from the spring had done its job maybe too well by the looks of it.

My arm looked like a Cerberusmon had used it for a chew toy for the last two weeks. Long strips of my skin had eroded away from direct contact with the data and I could see the now exposed muscle beneath. Parts of my skin looked ashen grey and I could even see what looked like puss forming in some of the areas that the data had run over before the grooves had form. My arm was now basically nothing more than a scrap of flesh with pain running through it.

Suddenly the pain lessened considerably so I looked at the bottle and saw that it was now empty as the male digimon had upended it and was now shaking out the last few drops which I didn't even feel at this point.

I did noticed however that in addition to my newly destroyed appendage my back was wet, it's also when I felt the shaking body of Kate as it held tightly against my body, I felt so weak at this point that I didn't even know how I was even still alive. My body didn't even want to respond to anything my brain was telling it to do not but somehow I managed to pat Kate on the arm that held my right arm in place. Thankfully she didn't just let go like I thought she would but instead she lowered me to my knees so I could rest. I took my opportunity and activated the mental link option of my left arm and commanded it to grab the edge of the bed and pull me towards the head of the bed.

I watched from a distance inside my own mind as my right arm moved on its own and pulled me across the floor to the head of the bed that Serenity was on, I felt hands under my arms trying to help me so I tried to tell them to stop but the only thing I heard come out was a slurred grunt. They must have understood the message because they let go of me.

It took me a couple of tries but I was finally able to pull myself up enough so I could see Serenity's face, I was going to wake her up but when I looked at her face she was already looking at me as tears streamed over her muzzle.

I wanted to say a couple of things to the little trouble maker but at the time all I could get out was, "Don....don't you...ever stop crying?"

That was about all I was able to say before the world spun in front of me and everything went dark.

To be continued