The Search for Light


Author's note: This is kind of a 'what-if' story. What if 10 years in the future, Myotismon had succeeded in taking over this world and he's still searching for the Eight Child.


This story happens right after the episode "City under Siege". In case you don't remember, here's a rundown of what happened. Tai told Matt to look after Kari while he went to save everyone from Myotismon. He told Matt that if he wasn't back in two hours, to take Kari and leave. Mimi was still being held captive, as was Gatomon. Joe and T.K. were trying to get into the city, where they met up with Wizardmon, who still had Kari's Tag and Crest. Tai met up with Sora, and told her to meet up with Matt. She did, and Kari gave herself up to Phantomon. This is 'what-if' Matt had listen to Tai, and he, Sora, and Kari left the city.



Part 1:

The sun was slowly starting to set, sending a wave of darkness across the Gobi Desert. It was a welcome sight for the nomads. They already felt Mother Nature's fierce fever began to drop as they decided to set up camp for that evening.

The nomads were a peculiar sight. Three humans and two Digimon. The oldest one was a 20-year-old man with a nest of long blond hair. He stood at least a foot above the others, making him the perfect lookout. He unzipped the pack from his back and began to set up the tent as the other two humans started to make a fire and cook diner.

"Hey, Kari!" he cried as the youngest member dropped a pile of dried up sticks into a pile,"Use up that charcoal from last night and save those sticks. We probably won't find any for a while out here again."

"Okay, Matt" the seventeen-year-old said, pulling a box out from her back pack, dropping the pile of charcoal left over from last night's fire into a pile. Matt smiled as he thought how much Kari changed from the little girl who kept crying for her mother as they left the city. She had certainly gotten a growth spurt, nearly meeting Matt in height. She had long black hair that reached her shoulders. She hadn't cried since that day, and Matt was sure that her brother would be proud of her.

Their last companion laughed. "Geez, Kari, don't sound too happy about it!"

"I'm always getting picked on!" she said, playfully,"If Gatomon were here, she'd show you a thing or two, Sora!"

Sora laughed, taking off her helmet and letting her hair dangle. She was about to say something else, when Gabumon and Biyomon walked with a pile of stuff in their hands.

"So," Sora said,"What's for diner tonight?"

"Lizards," Gabumon said," Lizards and more lizards."

"Sorry," Biyomon said,"That's all we could find out here."

"Its okay," Sora said,"I don't think the food will get any better the further we get out into the desert."

Matt sighed deeply. "Matt," Sora said,"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel bad about your decision."

"Yeah," Kari said,"9 years, not-with-standing, we're still stumbling around in the dark as far as desert nomads go. Its not your fault."

"Well," he said,"We'd better find some more food so we can stock up."

"Okay!" Gabumon and Biyomon said at the same time.

Matt put up the tent, and sat on his backpack, next to the fire. Sora sat next to him. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said,"I'm just peachy. Its just that, still, after all this time, I can't help but think what decision Tai would have made."

Sora's smile did a 180. "He would probably have chosen to stay and fight, but, that's what he did. He made sure that Kari would be safe from Myotismon, even if it meant, staying there and fighting Myotismon alone."

Matt stared at her. After 10 years, he knew her pretty well. "Why don't you tell me what your heart feels?"

Sora sighed. "Okay, I missed him terribly. I kept telling myself that he's alive, but in all possibility, he's probably dead, and I never got to tell him who I felt."

"You're wrong!"



The two turned to see Kari standing there with tears streaming down her face. "You're wrong! He would never give up! Never!"

"Kari," Sora said, comforting,"We want to believe that, really, but..."

"He's just one kid, and he's fighting thousands, right?" Kari asked, mimicking what Matt said to her, long ago.

"Kari.."Matt said, but he couldn't find the words to comfort her.

Kari walked back to the tent. "You're wrong! He's alive, I know it!"


A few thousand miles North, another pair of missing Digidestined were walking in a completely different environment. Joe and T.K. were walking down a frozen street in Siberia, with Gomamon and Patamon right behind Seemingly oblivious to the snowstorm around them, the people of the town continued on their daily lives.

T.K. shivered as a brisk of cold air brushed across his face. "We're almost there," Joe said as he led them into a small building.

Patamon covered his nose as he floated into the stench filled bar. "T.K.," he said,"What are we doing here?"

"Yeah, Joe," Gomamon said,"What are we doing here? You're not sucking on Grampa's old cough medicine again are you?"

T.K. and Patamon stared at Joe. "Gomamon!" Joe yelled,"I have never drank before and you know it!"

"Then what are you doing in a place like this?" the bartender asked, wiping a glass clean.

Joe walked over to the counter and placed some money down. "Information."

"Oh really?"

Joe turned to see a giant man whose muscles were poking out from underneath his parka. "Yeah," Joe said flatly,"Why?"

"Because we don't take kindly to people making trouble 'round here!" he said, walking over.

"I don't want trouble!" Joe said,"but I am prepare to defend myself. I am a Digidestined!"

The muscle man pulled back. "You're a Digidestined? I..I...I'm sorry, sir!" he said, running out of the bar.

"Jerk," Joe mumbled under his breath as he walked back to the bar.

"About?" the bartender asked.

"Tokyo, specifically, Taichi Kamiya."

"I don't know," the bartender said, nervously,"I hear he's a pretty hard man to get info about."

"Yeah," Joe said,"That's the Tai I knew, but I need to know about him now, its kinda urgent."

"I'll see what I can do. Will you be in town?"

Joe nodded, giving him their hotel phone number. "Call me as soon as possible."

He thanked the bartender and walked out with T.K. and the Digimon.

"I hope he can give us something, anything," T.K. said,"Wizardmon said Tai has the digivice, and with the digivice, we can find Kari before its too late."

Joe nodded, thinking about the vision Wizardmon had just a few days ago. He wasn't so sure he could trust Wizardmon after they pulled him out of the Tokyo Bay, but after ten years together, he was like a Digidestined. And Joe believed him when he saw his latest vision spelled doom for the future.

As the foursome started to walk to their hotel, Patamon said what everyone was thinking. "I hope Tai's still alive."


to be continued...