A New World Ch 2: Nathan

Story by attonranden on SoFurry

, , , , ,

#2 of A New World


Okay, here is the second chapter, for some reason I can't create a folder so these are all going to be separate.

Okay please rate and comment and tell me what I did wrong so I can improve it, thanks you.

"What's your choice Dan?" Nathan asked again, looking Dan in the eyes.

The digimon held him close as he made up his mind, "Why do I have to decide?" _ Dan thought still battling with his anger against Nathan, why couldn't he just take him back up? _"He's offering me my only way out and I don't want to die. I don't want to die, but do I want to live a different life instead?"

"I can't," Dan whispered, "This is my life, I can't just leave it all behind" Nathan let go slowly, looking away.

"Dan please reconsider, I don't want to leave you here to die, your life here is over no matter what you choose, we're too far down for you to climb, you don't have any equipment left, you have a back wound that would open up the moment you started climbing, you'd bleed to death before you even got a quarter of the way up and you'd fall to your death before that happened!" Nathan almost yelled Dan simply shrugged him off quietly saying.

"It's my life, I don't want to leave."

"Then your life is death!" Nathan screamed, his surprise clear in his voice as he grabbed Dan's shoulders, tears clear in his eyes "Is your life so important to you that you would give up living, just because you can't go back to it?"

Was it? Dan had to admit the thought of starting a new life somewhere where magic was common and digimon lived was appealing, it sounded like a fantasy, why was he really saying no? "Am I scared?" He thought to himself "Jordon and Charlotte already think I'm dead, my parents probably even know by now, what am I really holding onto?"

"What's it like, your world?" Dan asked suddenly. Nathan looked stunned a moment but smiled showing off his pearly white teeth.

"It's nice" He grinned, seeming to look past Dan a moment. "We have cities and forests and volcanoes and oceans just like here but ours are clean, the forests are huge, our cities and towns are smaller and shorter than yours but they're peaceful and happy."

"Sounds like a dream." Dan admitted; he would be lying if he said it didn't sound appealing. Looking at Nathan; he could tell that every word was true, the look in his eyes, the smile plastered on his lips. "Would I really be welcome there?" Dan asked.

"My guild would take you in without a second thought." Nathan said straight away, there was nothing but absolute certainty in those words, an uncomfortable silence stretched between the two of them.

"I don't want to leave my life behind," Dan said finally. All the hope drained from Nathans face, the digimon looked like he was about to cry, "But I don't want to die even more. Get me out of here Nathan." Nathan hugged Dan so tight he thought his lungs would burst; the digimon seemed to be glowing with joy.

"Sure thing." Nathan said jumping up; strapping his armour on so fast that he was finished by the time Dan could stand up properly. He kept hissing from the wound on his back, it felt like someone was pushing hot iron into his skin. "Here let me help." Nathan suggested letting Dan wrap an arm over his neck, with his armour on, Dan wouldn't have been able to tell that the magnamon was Nathan unless he told him.

Slowly they started walking, Dan noticed that there was a tunnel connected to the cave that they were in, and it looked like it had been melted, actually now that he thought about it the whole cave looked like it had been melted out of solid ice. The further they walked down the tunnel, the darker it got but before Dan could ask anything Nathan held out a hand; a small sphere of golden light appearing in his palm and lighting the way for them which wasn't very far.

The tunnel seemed to end only a dozen or so metres away, but even so it was slow going. Nathan watched Dan for any hint of pain, stopping at even the slightest sign, in truth Dan was in agony, now that he was standing, he felt light headed, the pain in his back had only intensified, his legs felt numb and he couldn't walk properly.

"So you have any family?" Dan asked, trying to take his mind away from the pain.

"I'm an orphan, my parents died just after I was born." Nathan said, his voice was devoid of emotion, but he looked away as he said it, Dan wondered how much it actually hurt.

"I'm sorry, how did..."

"It doesn't matter, the guild took me in, and I've been there ever since." Nathan said a little too quickly. Dan let the subject drop; after all it wasn't any of his business, if Nathan didn't want to talk about his past then Dan wouldn't force him but he needed something to distract him from the pain so he thought of another question.

"What exactly is a guild, you keep mentioning that you're part of one but what is it?" Nathan didn't him answer straight away, he was frowning at the ceiling or what Dan thought was the ceiling until he looked up as well.

They had reached the end of their short walk, the fissure had ripped the ice and stone apart in its ferocity, leaving a wide expanse clear for anyone to climb up or down. Staring at it though Dan realised that they must be miles down into the ice but it was impossible to tell how far down they were, all he could see was black; the light from Nathan's palm was not enough to illuminate much above them. Suddenly the shoulder Dan had been leaning on was gone, Nathan was moving in front of him still holding Dan arms for support, before he pulled both of Dan's arms around his neck and turned around. Before Dan could really ask what he was doing, he found himself on Nathans back; the magnamon's armour was surprisingly warm, just like the rest of him.

"Sorry but I can't exactly drag you back up to the surface can I?" Nathan chuckled as Dan grumbled. "Hold on" The digimon warned, slowly he started lifting of the ground, flying up into the darkness above them, after a few minutes Nathan answered Dan's question.

"A guild is home to a lot of people, it's a place to return to, a place where you can talk to people about your problems, every member is like a part of one big family. That's how I think of my guild but it's a place of work as well, people from all over send requests to a guild."

"Requests, what like a job?" Dan asked he started thinking about guilds in some games that he had played, where people posted jobs with rewards on boards.

"Yeah, a job, it can be anything from, helping a local shop for a few days, or transporting something from one town to another or even eliminating dangerous monsters. The person or group that put up the job will also pay a reward to the first person or team that completes the job." Nathan explained, "I think there is a guild for every two towns or so, if there were too many then work would be hard to find. But our capital is so big that it actually has three guilds."

"So what guild do you belong to?" The more they talked the closer they got to the top of the fissure but Dan couldn't help feeling like they had hours to go before they were even close to the surface, aside from the light, still in Nathans palm, there was nothing but black ahead of them.

"My guild is called Dragons Claw and because every member is a dragon we've been nicknamed the claws." Nathan chucked lightly, "We also have a reputation for saving humans, that's how I know the guild will help you out, especially the master, he can be harsh sometimes but only when he really has to and I've never seen him angry; I don't think anyone in our guild has ever seen him angry, in fact I don't think anyone in our guild has ever seen him do anything other than sit there and watch over the guild hall. He sits watching over all of us, he won't have any problem with helping you Daniel I know it."

_ "He sounds so sure, is this master that kind or he just hoping? If their guild is only dragons then how will they react to me?" _Dan was about to ask if it would really be alright, but something else came to mind, he had never told Nathan his name, this entire time the digimon had been using his name, how did he know?

"Nathan, how do you know my name, I didn't tell you it, but you have been using it this whole time?" The dragon turned to look at him, his eyes unsure.

"When I saw you fall down here, I err, I..." Nathan stuttered, obviously unsure about what to say "I heard your friends screaming, I didn't know if it was your name or not, but I didn't know what else it could be and you haven't told me otherwise, its... it's not disrespectful is it. The older members of the guild said that humans have a different culture, so if I've offended you I'm sorry Dane... sorry ill stop."

Hewas worried about offending him; this digimon was worried about offending him?_"Will I offend him if I don't accept his apology?" _There was an awkward silence growing between the two as Dan thought, he didn't want to offend Nathan, after all the he was saving his life, but Nathan wouldn't say anything else out of fear of offending him.

"You didn't offend me Nathan, you're saving my life I don't think you can offend me. Using my name is all right, as long as it's fine with you." Dan offered, hoping that he hadn't misread the digimon. Luckily Nathan gave a sigh of relief and relaxed his grip on Dan slightly; he hadn't even realised that Nathan had almost being squeezing him, but Nathan looked back at him, nodding slightly, because of his armour Dan couldn't see his face but he was sure that the dragon was smiling.

"I don't have a problem with that." After that the two became quiet. Nathan had awoken the fear in Dan's heart again, his friends, would they be alright? Dan was under no illusion that he was the centre of their life or anything but seeing a friend die before your very eyes could change them; maybe even break them if they let it. Dan had almost watched Charlotte fall into this abyss, and it felt like someone was ripping his heart out and he didn't see her die, but they saw him 'die'. They saw him fall; they must have heard his scream. Would they be alright, would they be able to move on enough to get on with their lives. As if he could read minds Nathan asked.

"Thinking about your friends?" The dragon didn't have to look to feel Dan nod, "I've lost friends before Dan, it affects you, a lot more than anyone would like to admit, but I don't think that you need to worry about them, they seemed strong when I saw them, the male was getting ready to climb down after you I think."

"That sounds like Jordon, always thinking with his heart not his head." Dan chuckled, "There was this muscle brained bastard that spread a rumour about Charlotte because she had refused to sleep with him, Jordon rushed right over to 'defend her honour' as he put it later. He was a complete mess afterwards, even had a few broken bones."

"Was your friend alright?" Nathan asked, concerned, Dan just laughed, the dragon stared at him, not sure what was so funny, "What did I say?"

"It was the muscle brained bastard that was a mess, not Jordon; he fought so hard I thought that he was going to kill him at one point, but he kept himself in check enough to get him into a hospital. Anyway the point that I'm trying to make is that if he had fought that guy normally he would have been beaten to a pulp, he thinks with his heart."

"So he defended your friends 'honour', was he rewarded afterwards?" Nathan frowned as Dan laughed again. "What did I say this time?!" The dragon demanded.

"We were all suspended, for a month; me, Jordon and Charlotte. The head master knew that I made sure that they were alone, so I got punished as well. Funny thing is we got a written apology from that sports bastard when he had enough fingers to write properly, saying that he was sorry... That was only a few weeks ago." Dan let his head rest on Nathan's shoulder, "Are you sure that you can't take me back, sure that there's no loop hole that you can get through?" Dan asked, he already knew the answer, but some part of him had to be told that there was nothing, some part of him wanted a reason to shut out these memories. All that Nathan could say was that he was sorry.

It took hours for them to get close enough to the surface to see light again, Nathan had tried talking now and again but Dan kept quiet, in a way he was mourning his friends passing as well, they weren't dead but he would never see them again, could never see them again. His friends and his life were leaving and the closer that they got to this portal that lead to Nathans world, the closer that they were gone forever. "I agreed to it, I can't say no now" Or could he? If he resisted Nathan when they got to the surface then he might be able to get some attention and rescue. Dan sighed it wouldn't work, the dragon was stronger than him and had his magic that; Dan knew for a fact, could hold him without any trouble what so ever and he didn't want to betray Nathan.

"Thinking about your friends?" Nathan asked, they were slowing down the closer they got to the top, as he rummaged around in one of his breeches pockets, Nathan stopped completely when he found what he was looking for, a small simple metal bracelet, smooth aside from an engraving of a feral dragon on one side. "I really am sorry that it has to be this way Dan, I wish that I could just take you back, but I can't." Nathan slide the bracelet on his right gauntlet in seemed to fit perfectly, moulding right into his armour. The affect was instant, a small transparent bubble came into existence around the pair, it shimmered where the sun light caught it and was darker than night where it didn't.

"This is a stealth bracelet; it'll make us invisible to the naked eye, so no one will notice us." Nathan explained moving towards the surface again. Dan had to cover his eyes as they finally exited the fissure. The first thing he felt was the wind blowing through his hair, it was freezing compared to the heat coming from Nathan. Nathan held still in the air as Dan's eyes recovered, he didn't know if what he saw was good or bad.

There was no one in sight, only snow and ice. His friends were gone. "What did you expect?" Dan asked himself, he knew that they wouldn't have survived a night this high up, "so why am I so disappointed that they're gone?" The question echoed around his mind, Dan just wished that he could see them one last time, just to tell them that he was alive that he would be ok, but he knew he couldn't; Nathan had made that crystal clear he would never see any of them again.

"Let's go." Dan whispered, he could have screamed, could have cried but he just let his head fall limp on Nathan's shoulder, he was tired and hurt and just wanted this whole thing to be over, just wanted to sleep in a warm bed. Without a word Nathan flew back towards the mountain, heading towards the peek, the wind grew colder and more savage the higher they went, whipping at Dan's face with frozen lashes. Eventually, Nathan began to focus on a point on a ridge.

"That's the portal Dan." Nathan shouted over the wind, pointing at a ridge line in the mountain. From what Dan could make out it was just an old stone archway. If that was really the portal that Nathan was talking about then it was no wonder that no human had ever discovered it; being this high up in the mountains it was likely that no one would ever find it. The closer they got, the more he thought that no one would ever find it, it looked impossible to get to it unless you were flying.

Setting down close to the archway, Nathan let Dan down off his back; Dan yelped as he sunk down to his knees in the snow, he instantly missed Nathans warmth.

"Sorry Dan but I can't open it with you on my back." Nathan apologized, laughing as Dan quickly nodded, his teeth chattering loudly, the wind becoming more painful the longer he stood there. Hurrying up Nathan floated over to the archway, he could have been saying something but the wind made it impossible for Dan to hear him but the flash of blue light was clear as day. It spiralled out from under the archway, drawing runes and circles with blue flames in the snow melting everything that they touched. within a minute all the snow within a few metres of the archway had melted away and the gale that battered Dan stopped; the runes burning on the ground were blocking it out.

"Come on Dan, almost there" Nathan encouraged, once again letting Dan rest his weight on him, his arm draped around his neck. Their pace was slow but the portal was only a few metres away, an oval of bright burning blue fire suspended in mid air under the stone archway. Dan hesitated upon reaching it, he stared into it for what seemed like an eternity; it swirled and moved like fire, yet somehow it wasn't. Dan couldn't explain it, it just seemed different. Slowly he stretched out a hand, letting the flame engulf it, there was no pain, the blue flames just danced around his hand and seemed to be pulling at his hand. Yes it was pulling, forcing more of his hand and arm into the portal, before he could panic Nathan gave a slight push and they both dived into the portal.

In an instant they were somewhere else, Dan could hear birds, could feel the warmth of sunlight on his face, there was the steady hum of noise and traffic that sounded like a market and footsteps, heavy footsteps... footsteps that sounds like that were wearing armour. As Dan opened his eyes he almost wished that he was back freezing on that mountain. A ring of a dozen spears were aimed straight for his throat.

"Don't move human!"