A Different Kind of Healing

A healing hope!

Shoutmon snorted angrily allowing two small towers of smoke to billow from his ruby red nostrils as the previous events replayed like an old, horror movie within his mind. He let out a small sigh gently shaking his head. 'How could she say such things!? She wasn't even there when Akari helped pull everyone out of countless messes. At times, she'd been the bright burning light the team needed to move forwards when even Taiki had almost lost faith!' A warm, gentle smile played across his jagged jaw as he stared off into the distance, the long dirt road back towards his castle slowly melting into a river of stars. Memories lined the walls of the celestial plane within his mind. He eventually shook his head allowing himself to gently return to reality, his claws kicking up the dust and dirt with each step. He had been so lost in thought that he didn't notice the castle in the distance slowly growing larger. "Heh, alright Akari! Are you ready to see your new home? I can't wait to show you how much the digital world has changed! When you hatch, I'll have all of our old friends lining the walls to greet you, heh, you could be hailed as a hero!" He glanced down at the egg in his hands, it slowly vibrated as if replying to his warmth. Though, to Shoutmon's horror, the egg drastically dropped in temperature only to jump rapidly to a harsh blue blaze almost instantly! "Wh-WHAT??" *TSSST!* Shoutmon gasped in terror as the bands Sanzomon had placed upon the egg slowly began to singe off unleashing an explosive burst of light blue aura into the digital world! "ARRGH!!" He was suddenly flung backwards as one of the rings of energy connected with his stomach sending him and the egg flying! Like a rag-doll, he flipped and skidded across the dusty ground a few yards away from the castle losing his grip on the egg in the process. "MY KING!" One of the Togemon guards screamed frantically upon witnessing the king being thrown. They bolted towards Shoutmon as if they were one massive speeding bullet train only to stop dead in their tracks as the energy pulsating from the egg was too much! The pressure around the area heavily increased rendering close contact with either of them nearly impossible! Shoutmon gritted his dagger-like teeth as pain erupted from his stomach knocking the wind out of him! He wheezed as his vision began to sink into darkness. His only concern rested with the egg that was now sitting about twenty feet away! "UURRRAHH!!" He grunted trying his best to fight through the immense pressure, his body pancaking itself against the ground as he thrust a three pronged, rubbery hand up towards the angrily pulsating egg, his deep blue eyes narrowing with determination! "A-Ak-kar..." he wheezed before forcibly plummeting into darkness.

"AKA-*HACK!*" Shoutmon wheezed loudly bolting upright as he began to frantically search the area only to realize that he was back inside of his room in the castle. Shoutmon blinked as he tore the covers off of himself in an attempt to dash out of the room only to be stopped by a wave of pain erupting from his freshly bandaged and blood soaked stomach. "AAACK...!" He wheezed once more coughing up a familiar dark, oily, red substance then collapsing on the floor! His mic clattering noisily against the stone floor. "GHHNNNN!!" He gritted his teeth, clenching his eyes tightly shut as he endured the pain! His metallic body now glistening with a new layer of sweat as he shakily summoned his mic and forced himself into a standing position. "Shoutmon..." A small, familiar voice cut sharply through his groans and heavy hyperventilation. Shoutmon's pupils shrank as he slowly turned his head upwards staring at a familiar bright pink, anthropomorphic rabbit wearing headphones and a single scarf. "C-cute... M..." He attempted before he was brutally silenced by another wave of heavy coughing. The small rabbit sighed deeply shaking his head, as he knelt down grasping one of Shoutmon's arms in an attempt to help pull him back up. His years of training with Dorulumon made him quite the formidable adversary and quite strong despite still being such a little guy. Shoutmon attempted to weakly shake him off to no avail. He was in no shape to argue, even he knew that but his brutish stubbornness always found a way to push through. "N-no.. C-*cough* Cutemo-*cough* I-I hav..." Cutemon abruptly cut him off as he forced his friend back into bed. "No Shoutmon, you have to rest. Your kingly duties will be taken care of until you can return. Doctor's orders. Doctors overrule kings when necessary!" Cutemon flashed him a cocky smile equipped with a small, side wink. Shoutmon narrowed his eyes at the small, pink rabbit as his lips began to peel away from his teeth once more. A low, grainy growl rolled through his clenched teeth as two, very small, streams of smoke fluttered gently out of his nostrils. The corners of Cutemon's mouth twitched slightly as he folded his tiny arms giving Shoutmon a stern look. "What could be so important that even **you** would risk your life..." Cutemon paused puffing up his tiny cheeks then expelling the captive air within them as he continued. "Well, you know, outside of your usual stubbornness. Was it another town that needed saving? A thief stealing someone's sack of digicoins?" Cutemon teased playfully only to jump as Shoutmon pounded the sides of his mattress in frustration causing yet another wave of pain to erupt from his stomach and another fresh coat of blood to soak through his bandages. Cutemon's ears drooped slightly as he noticed the fresh pool of blood collecting behind them. "You do need to stop moving around so much. I just closed that wound!" He said, mildly annoyed. With a scoff, Cutemon knelt under the bed pulling out a hidden supply of gauze, thick bandages, ointments and salves he'd concocted upon learning a thing or two from his folks so he wouldn't waste so much of his energy whenever his services were needed. He quickly got to work undressing the bandaging from the wounds, resealing the wounds with a bit of energy and again, bandaging up the rest, this time with extra padding. Heaven only knows when he'll need it once more. Cutemon rolled his eyes at the thought as the memory of Shoutmon with half of his stomach region melted away and bleeding profusely was rushed in by a half destroyed Togemon! Luckily the cactus mons don't need much medical attention as they'll just grow back anyways. The guard was still temporarily relieved from duty by Dorulumon.

Shoutmon snorted in annoyance knowing full well that Cutemon was right, he really did need to rest but there was one thing he needed to check on first and that was the egg currently holding Akari. He nervously glanced towards the door allowing Cutemon to push him back into a laying position. "Nah-uh. Whatever's out there can wait! You rest now please!" Cutemon said with a gentle mask hiding the growing annoyance within. He shoved the contents of the box back into their container and gently slid them back under the bed. "If you need anything, just shout or bellow or... whatever you do!" He said turning towards the door waving his hand behind his head in a nonchalant sort of fashion. Shoutmon watched him go still glaring at the young medic. "W-wait..." Cutemon stopped dead in his tracks right before his hand touched the doorknob. "Yes? What is it?" He said, curiously turning around to the bedridden, bandaged, red, metallic, wingless dragon. Shoutmon's expression softened as he carefully lifted a hand to his face giving the bridge of his nose a soft rub as he then carefully sat up, not wanting to do too much damage to what Cutemon already fixed. At this, Cutemon's annoyance was already starting to break its internal cage. He let out a long sigh knowing his friend wasn't just going to give up. "Okay, what is it, Shoutmon?" Cutemon asked in a defeated tone. Shoutmon then barely wheezed a single word causing Cutemon to grow uneasy. "Egg?" Sweat drops began to form upon Cutemon's brow as his pupils drastically decreased. "O-oh um... I-I think Wisemon is taking care of it in the room you had assigned. U-um... Are you sure that's an egg?" Cutemon asked almost under his breath. The unease literally causing the small pink lagomorph to wish he was doing something else entirely. Shoutmon narrowed his eyes at the small monster's reaction and gave a firm nod. "O-oh! Um... good! I'll uh, just get going now!" Cutemon threw on a nervous smile as shoutmon watched the rabbit Digimon indeed follow up on his desires and bolted from the room without further explanation. Shoutmon sighed watching the door slam shut in his haste. He gently and very slowly slid himself back onto his bed staring at the purple and gold canopy draped over top of his bed pulling into a fascinating point in the middle. His room was plain, stone floor with purples, golds and blues to accent his own coloration. An oriental throw rug took over most of the room save for the small table and chairs at the end of his bed. There was a small dresser with a circular, ornamental mirror next to his bathroom. Gold vines weaving their way from the floor of the dark blue dresser to wrap around the small mirror. It wasn't his style at all but it was a gift so he still gladly accepted it. Despite him not having many clothes, he kept important documents, ink pens and ink wells tucked safely within. One was a drawer, of course, saved for his favorite scarf. A small bedside table with the same accents as the dresser tucked neatly up against the wall on his right side before the door. He was still a small Digimon so there was still plenty of room between the table and wall leading to the massive stained glass window that he found had been completely re-done in his absence. It was a mural of him holding up the code crown on top of a mountain, golden beams shooting upwards from the master code crown and him smiling happily up at it! In his 'wise' opinion, that alone would accent any room perfectly, thus he had demanded murals of the army generals as well as Digimon in every guest bedroom much to the dismay of the artisan Bucchiemon! He chuckled lightly to himself before his smile quickly faded as his mind shifted back to Akari's egg hoping she was alright in there. Shoutmon glanced towards the door one last time before letting his eyes close for the final time that day. He knew that she'd be safe with Wisemon... He trusted that Digimon with his life. He knew for sure that he would find a way around this mess. He gave himself an internal nod as he promised to check on Akari tomorrow... for now. It's sleep time!