Train Cars Like Coffins [Eliot/Cassandra]

Elliot was surprised how empty his hand felt when Cas let go of it. The warmth had distracted him from just how cold the room had become, and he found his teeth chattering a little as the chill finally set in. He kept his hand on her belt carefully, but he was a little baffled that somehow that contact had made all the difference for him. Cas' argument was sound, though, even if it did raise a few other questions. "As long as it doesn't, like, tip anyone off to the fact that we're here, that works for me," Elliot said. It was better than whacking someone in the head over it.

He could've sworn he noticed a glint of silvery metal on Cas' wrist as she started fiddling with her pen light, but the ginger way she nestled it against his hear was certainly a good way of distracting him from asking questions. Unfortunately, the sudden light also meant that Elliot's blush was very plainly visible. He averted his eyes nervously at this fact, as if not wanting to see how Cas would react to noticing. At least now he wouldn't just be dead weight! "I'll do my best," he said, fully prepared to start leading the way.

The walk across the train card had definitely been uneventful, but the fact that Elliot was now lighting the way meant that he was carefully scanning every part of the car for movement. That meant he was paying a lot more attention to his surroundings, and that meant he could see the eyes in the window too. Immediately, he knew whatever they were dealing with wasn't human. Unlike Cas, Elliot knew exactly what they meant. He took in a sharp breath, stifling it within his throat to the best of his ability to avoid tipping Cas off to his worries. Maybe if he had free hands and free space he could've taken out his Digivice to scan them, but in front of someone who had never been to the Digital World? That was way too risky.

Maybe that was why when Cas said to run, he found himself blurting "I'm not running." He quickly realized that it might've sounded a little suspicious, and corrected himself. "It wouldn't be right to leave you alone. Not like this," he added, not letting on to the extra details he knew about the situation.

The third train car was identical to the second train car. There was the same lock of the door as they passed through. There was the same lack of any light, sound, or motion. There were even the same eyes in the inky darkness, looking through the windows. The main difference was that previously, all of the eyes had been outside of the train cars, looking within.

This time, one of the masses of eyes was inside, unmoving and looking directly at Elliot and Cas.

Normally, a statement like that would be quite comforting to Elliot. Cas had been more than generous so far, after all, and she was someone Elliot would've loved to spend more time with. Today was the worst possible day for Cas to say that, though. His argument with Isaac was still fresh on his mind, and Cas' words were far, far too similar to his. Elliot found himself shrinking back from her some, hand unhooking from around her belt as he looked down at his feet. "No," he said, shaking his head. "You run first. I can take care of myself, and I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to you just so I could make it okay. I . . . I'd really want to know if you're okay, please."

He couldn't abandon two people to their fates.

Elliot frowned slightly as Cas gave her request. That thing sitting in front of them was a Digimon, but without his Digital form that was all Elliot knew. He had no idea what it was, or how strong it would be, or if it was even corporeal or not. If he tried to do something, he could just end up sealing his and Cas' fates. For that reason, he was more than happy to follow Cas' lead, sneaking off to try and get to the door. The being's eyes seemed to move in two different directions, some following Elliot and some following Cas, but it didn't seem to react as Elliot peeled away to start making his way to the door. From here Elliot could see that it had eyes spanning the entire length of its body, not just on its "front" side. Did this thing even have a face?

As Elliot pulled out his Digivice, the creature eyed it with idle curiosity. It didn't even react as he started subtly scanning it, keeping one hand on the door and the other on his "phone." Maybe he could explain it to Cas as trying to phone for help, if the need arose. Nevertheless, there he was able to see what he was working with. Shademon. Champion. An incorporeal Digimon made of shadows. Whatever it was, it seemed like bad news.

And, much like Cas requested, it started moving. Towards her. A gap started to spread between its eyes, almost as if Shademon was making a hole inside of its dark void to fit Cas within. If she didn't react it would soon envelop her completely, leaving her completely surrounded by cold, inky darkness.

She was actually doing it. Cas was going out and emptying a fire extinguisher on a champion. A Champion wasn't too unbearable to deal with, by Digimon standards. By this point Elliot had experienced way worse, personally, at the hands of various Ultimates around the Digital World. And those weren't even the strongest! However, Cas wasn't someone who could turn into an angel, or a martial artist dragon shark, or a snake with increasingly implausible fine dexterity skills. She was a human. A human smaller than Elliot, and somewhat frail looking too. She couldn't do this. He couldn't let her. The worry in his voice peaked a little as he desperately shouted after her. "Cas, wait-!"

It was too late, though. Cas' breath and the hiss of pressurized foam went off at once, and the fire extinguisher has come spraying to life.

The Shademon didn't even seem to notice, however. Its eyes all turned to face Cas at once, more opening from almost every corner of the inky black Digimon's body. Some were large, with manic swirls visible instead of pupils. Others were small and numerous, clustered together in small bright spots along its body. However, they all seemed to slip into a half-lidded, almost droopy expression. It was as if the Shademon was less startled by Cas' action and more weary, perhaps even irritable. Nevertheless, for the time being it did not act. It simply watched as Cas ran to Elliot's side, the boy frantically fumbling with the door so he could pull it open by the time Cas arrived.

The Shademon slowly started to recede into the floor as they left, and by the time they had passed the train's next door had locked shut.

The next train car seemed to be completely shrouded in darkness. Elliot wasn't surprised. The light had been getting more strained with each room. What was surprising, however, was the small glimmers of white in the train car. They twinkled as Elliot stared into the depths, almost like little localized stars on a galaxy. Inky blackness and a less harsh blue intermingled with each other, twirling like wisps of cosmic gas.

It should've been a serene image. However, for some reason it left Elliot sick to his stomach. He scooted a bit closer to Cas, unsure whether to stand protectively in front of her or hide behind her. "T-two left," he restated, hoping this train wouldn't be even a single car longer.

Elliot smiled softly as he felt Cas' arm wrap around his shoulders. Frankly, with the difference in height between them meaning she had to likely put a lot of effort into the gesture, he wasn't fighting it. He even stooped down a little to make it easier for her, warmly nestling a bit into her side. "Thank you," he said, voice still quiet. There was something disconcerting about the long road ahead, but the small smile on her face was enough to settle the pit inside of his stomach. Granted, the fact that she was actually pretty cute helped.

Elliot giggled a little at her offer, one last attempt made at cheering him up. "That actually sounds really nice," he admitted. "Mom'd probably get worried if I had too much of it, though. I've already been worrying her a lot lately, so maybe I should try and go easy . . ." She was taking the whole Digital World thing way more in stride than Elliot had expected, but he could tell there was a lot of worry hidden behind her outward acceptance. Elliot knew it wouldn't be a good idea to push the issue there too much.

Still, her treat? Elliot frowned slightly. "You've been doing a lot for me. I'd feel bad," he said. "If anything, I should be treating you for all of this. I mean, it isn't like you had to escort me through the nightmare-train or anything like that." Nevertheless, they could talk who treated who later. For now, Elliot needed to light the way, because Cas was taking point in the darkness. He angled his flashlight towards the darkness, but damn near dropped it when he realized just what he was looking at.

The blackish-blue darkness natural to this time of night was gone, leaving behind the inky black forms of several Shademon. They seemed to have coagulated together in a large pile, their shadowy bodies forming a single entity of darkness that spread from wall to wall. The "stars", their eyes, all swiveled to focus on Cas and Elliot as they made their way into the darkness. Strangely enough, the mass started to separate. It was almost as if they were parting to get out of Cas and Elliot's way, or at least trying to make individual observations of their own.

The gesture wasn't all altruistic, though. Tendrils of darkness seemed to stretch from a few of the Shademon, each one almost supernaturally chill to the touch. They seemed to probe the area around Cas and Elliot, perhaps even listlessly swinging towards the duo. Elliot kept his profile as small as possible, as if terrified of the mere idea touching him. The sounds of distress coming from this throat were evident.

The CO2 went off in great white plumes, only to be swallowed in the darkness like light spilling into a black hole. Her guttural snarling and roaring could barely be heard over the press of the high-pressure foam, and Elliot found it hard to see from either blinding white foam or endless depths of blackness surrounding him on other side. Nevertheless, it seemed whatever Cas was doing was working, because the Shademon were receding ever so slightly.

Was this a victory, though, or a retreat on their own terms? They never left fully, only remaining close enough to continue observing Cas. In fact, they seemed rather enamored with the woman, to the point of completely ignoring the scared boy hobbling behind her. A tendril reached between the two, Elliot recoiling from the icy cold and letting out another little yelp. It didn't separate Elliot form Cas, but rather made a small gap between the two so Shademon could rush in and fill the remaining space. They now gathered to watch Cas up close, tentacles probing the air around her and eyes practically swimming across their bodies to get better looks at her.

Elliot fumbled for his Digivice, but he was having an awful time finding it. Instead he just shakily demanded "Get away from her! Please!" He even took a swing at one with his walking stick, although much to the Shademon's clear amusement it phased right through.

The Shademon would continue crowding around Cas, but the duo's approach would never be blocked outright. However, each step would be harder than the last, as if the shadows mobbing around Elliot and Cas were starting to physically weigh them down. The shape of the door could be faintly visible through the thick clouds of Shademon, but it was little more than an outline. How much time would it take to fumble for an opening at this rate?

Elliot and Cas' combined lashing failed to do anything to the Shademon, but they certainly communicated to keep their distance. One by one the the Shademon started to peel away, phasing through the floors and windows as they started leaving the train en masse. Elliot let out a deep sigh as he finally had breathing room, no longer needing to deal with several shadows pushed right up against his face. "Come on, come on, we're almost there!" Elliot said, hustling his pace forward to try and meet Cas' as she flung herself at the doors.

He almost fell down as she stumbled through the door, quickly bracing himself against her shoulder that he wouldn't fall. When he opened his eyes again after composing himself, his jaw dropped as he realized that he was seeing light. It wasn't a very comforting light. The lights had been torn from their holsters, dangling on the wires that faintly connected them to the rest of the train. They swayed back and forth as if being pushed by a stiff breeze, the lightbulbs blinking frantically like a strobe on repeat.

The lights weren't the only thing swaying. The train itself seemed to be rocking back and forth, Elliot digging his heels in and taking small, careful footsteps in order to avoid being flung around like a little pinball. Usually it didn't sway for too much of an angle, reaching about 10 degrees at most. However, on occasion the train nearly tipped a full thirty degrees, as if something outside was trying to tip it over on its side.

All the while, the conductor spoke.

"Terrible. Terrible. You must stop," it said, the static creeping into its voice all the more overwhelming. "Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop." With each new "stop" the walls of the train vibrated, as if it was being smashed and pounded on all sides by something trying to get in. Elliot just squeezed his eyes shut, holding his walking stick tight in one hand and clinging to Cas' hand with the other.

Just one more car, right?