Frontiers Unexplored

28) Rise and Return

The first thing Takuya felt when consciousness next returned to him was pain. 

It took far too long for him to pry his eyes open, and when he did, he was met with the sight of darkness on all sides. He was sideways on the ground, and the dirt below him was firm and aggravating. The skies above were coated in shadow, and no sun pierced the heavens. His mind was still groggy, and he was left internally wondering where he was and what had happened. Everything hurt, and he could barely bring himself to form words. 

Slowly but surely, Takuya managed to get to his feet, but the dizziness never quite went away, and he pressed one hand to his temple. He hissed when his fingers came away stained with a small amount of blood, but he doubted that it was anything serious. Closer examination told him that it was just a small scrape, and he suspected that it would be gone before he knew it. 

"Takuya! You're alright!"

Takuya felt something ram into his stomach, and all the breath he had was forced from his lungs as he stumbled backwards. He looked down against the pain to see Patamon clinging firmly to his shirt. The small Digimon had wide, watery eyes, as if he was on the verge of tears. He didn't move from Takuya's shirt no matter how long the Warrior of Fire stared down at him with confusion written all over his features. 

"What the hell happened...?" Takuya managed to question, but it hurt him internally to admit how hard it was to even get the words out. He was able to carefully cup an arm around Patamon's back to calm the creature, learning that the winged beast was shaking furiously out of terror. He pulled his other arm up as well and began to cradle Patamon in his grasp. 

"You got hurt, and then the Fallen Warriors showed up, and then...!" Patamon cried out before his tears fully broke free of his eyes, leaving him to sob freely into Takuya's shirt. The cold of his tears was sobering to Takuya even through the fabric, and his mind raced as he attempted to rationalize what Patamon was attempting to explain to him. 

Takuya slowly sat down while still holding Patamon close. "Slow down," he said gently. "Start from the beginning." He didn't want to admit that he was unsure of what had started all of this, and he knew that it would only frighten Patamon further, so he remained silent. He stroked gently at Patamon's back with a few of his fingers, but this quickly proved itself to be the extent of his capabilities regarding motion. 

Patamon swallowed before answering. "You and the rest of the group were fighting against Duskmon, and I was hiding with Bokomon and Neemon in the house that we spent the night in. Duskmon hurt Koji when he took a hit for you, and then everything went black," Patamon began. 

As soon as he was finished explaining, Takuya remembered everything, and he couldn't help but cringe at the reminder. God damn it, that had happened, hadn't it? Every gruesome part of their battle against Duskmon came flooding back to him at once, and with it, other unpleasant memories bit and clawed their way to the surface. 

He had gone back to Earth somehow. He had gotten on a Trailmon, and he shifted between the worlds. Still, he thought he remembered being Agunimon when the air around him began to distort and he shifted back into the Digital World. What had caused him to become Takuya again, and why was he on the ground? He could feel dust in his hair, and he was sure that the pain throbbing throughout his body hadn't been there before he boarded that Trailmon. 

Still, Takuya was unable to tell Patamon about his adventures on Earth before the smaller creature was continuing with the explanation. "Lyramon and Oceaniamon showed up. They took everybody, and I was only able to escape because I hid in the building, but... Bokomon and Neemon tried to help you all while telling me to stay put. Lyramon and Oceaniamon grabbed nearly everyone, but... They didn't get Koji."