Frontiers Unexplored

50) Fall of the Knights

Takuya had been awake for roughly an hour since the start of the group's impromptu nap session. When he first came to, he was met with a snarky comment from Saki asking if he had slept well, and Takuya had responded with a dramatic yet playful roll of his eyes before asking why they hadn't rested as well. Saki had simply shrugged it off, refusing to give a direct answer. Takuya understood as soon as he saw the anxiety that had made their posture go tense; they were trying to make sure that the Royal Knights didn't ambush the group when they were unable to fight, to Saki had decided to assign themselves the position of guard while everyone else rested and prepared for the next battle. 

Everyone had been pulled from slumber since he first shared his brief conversation with Saki, but they hadn't yet started moving. Takuya was watching his D-Tector carefully, and he could see a trio of signals on the horizon. They were white, yellow, and green in color, a clear way of saying that Koji, Junpei, and Yumiko were coming. Takuya was positive that his group would have started moving by then if not for the exhaustion that permeated the air like a stifling fog. None of them had much energy after being forced to move around so frequently in between fighting the Royal Knights, and they were going to need the time to regenerate as much as possible before the inevitable next encounter. 

At the very least, Takuya took solace in the knowledge that two of the five Royal Knights were gone. He couldn't say for sure what had happened to Crusadermon, Leopardmon, or Alphamon, but he was still beyond relieved that Dynasmon and Jesmon were out of the picture. It was a significant step, and Takuya couldn't help but feel pride swell in his chest when he remembered how far his team had come. At first, he never would have imagined that they would be able to defeat the Royal Knights, and yet, there they were. After being given the chance to recuperate, they were able to take out two of their five foes, and they were raring to go as soon as the next target came into their line of sight as well. 

Takuya heard tapping, and he glanced up to see that Chihiro was pressing their thumb nail against the side of their D-Tector nervously. He could tell that they were just as desperate to reunite with the rest of the team as he was, so Takuya moved closer to them before placing a hand on their shoulder. Much to his surprise, Chihiro didn't even jump, instead seeming to melt into the touch as they closed their eyes. The two sat like that for what felt like an eternity, simply enjoying the presence of the other nearby Warriors. Takuya wasn't sure of how much time passed, but it wasn't as if he particularly cared to find out what the answer was either. They were alive, and he knew that three other members of their group were as well. That was the most important thing to him. 

Koichi, Hinoka, and Mayumi were still unaccounted for, and Takuya could tell that Haroi was starting to get particularly antsy. Bokomon had offered to sit with him until he calmed down, but Takuya could tell that wasn't going to be happening for quite a while. Haroi attempted to flip through the pages of Ophanimon's book about the Legendary Warriors as a way of soothing himself, but there was only so much that he could accomplish when he was unable to focus for longer than a few seconds. Nobody openly acknowledged his jittery behavior, knowing that nothing they could say would be able to help him. They were all aware that the three missing members of their team could handle themselves while still looking after the remaining reincarnated members of the Celestial Three. They would be fine, but that didn't do much to ease the nervousness that hung around them in a suffocating blanket. 

Takuya rose to his feet and stretched his arms above his head. After having sat still for so long, he was practically desperate to move and do something aside from simply lounging around. His foot, not for the first time since his arrival in the Digital World, longed for a soccer ball to kick around between his shoes. Instead, he glanced down to his D-Tector, and he found himself starting to bounce one foot as his mouth went dry from something between anxiety and fear.