Camping Out
by Cybra
A/N: This was inspired by the 02 episode titled "Run, Yolei, Run". Now a camping trip with The Trio idea could not be ignored nor resisted. Heh. This may turn out to be a funny/bonding experience for them! ^^
Disclaimer: Standard disclaimers apply. Meaning, I own nothing.
"Ninety-seven bottles of pop on the wall! Ninety-seven bottles of pop!"
"Dad! Stop this car right now! I have to kill Tai!!! This is the fourth time he's sung that stupid song!"
"Uh, Tai? You may want to stop. You're getting on Matt's nerves…"
"…Ninety-five bottles of pop on the wall! Ninety-five bottles of – urk!"
Yamato "Matt" Ishida had finally had enough as he twisted around in his seat and grabbed Taichi "Tai" Kamiya by the throat. The redhead seated beside Tai – Koushiro "Izzy" Izumi – looked unsure as to whether he should intervene or not.
"It'll be totally justified!" Matt exclaimed happily. "Not a court in the land will convict me!"
By now, Tai was turning the same purple color Izzy's Crest of Knowledge had been. He clawed at Matt's hands in a vain attempt to force the blonde to let go, but Matt had no intention of allowing his prey to get away just yet.
Mr. Ishida sighed, but was smiling. It was turning out to be an interesting trip…and they weren't even at the campsite yet. Even though the idea of hanging out in the wilderness with snakes and grizzly bears didn't appeal to him, spending some time away from the office with his son did.
Izzy gave the only adult in the car a pathetic look in the rearview mirror. Mr. Ishida laughed at the pathetic "Why me?" written across the youngest of the four's face. The man shook his head, still laughing as the redhead turned and began to try and pry Matt's fingers off from around Tai's neck.
~@~
Izzy looked around the campsite that had been chosen from his view in the back seat of the van. It was absolutely perfect! Instead of sleeping on the ground in tents, the group of three teenagers and one adult was going to spend the next few days in a nice-looking cabin. Even better, electricity was included in these cabins. That way, Izzy could constantly recharge the batteries of his laptop just in case the others decided to drop in on them unexpectedly.
"Well, what do you guys think?" Mr. Ishida asked.
Matt leaped out of the van and began stretching his legs. "I'm just glad we stopped!"
Tai stepped out of the van, still rubbing his neck and nodding his approval. Izzy simply grinned as his response.
Matt's dad began to unload the van and handed each boy his gear. The brown-haired teenager took his backpack from the man and suddenly broke into a run.
Tai called over his shoulder, "Dibs on the top bunk!"
"No way, Tai! That bunk is mine!" Matt shouted, chasing after him.
A red-haired blur shot past both of them and into the cabin before Tai could shout a reply to Matt's own shout. When the two teenagers reached the room they would be sharing with their shorter friend, Izzy was lying down on the top bunk of the only bunk bed in the room. (The other bed was actually a fold out couch.)
At Tai and Matt's stares, Izzy stated in a sing-song voice, "The top bunk is mine."
~@~
"Hot! Hot! Hot!" Tai yelled as he began waving a hand over his burning tongue.
Matt was doubled over with laughter as Izzy glanced down at the bowl of some strange concoction in his hands. Mr. Ishida chuckled as he roasted another hot dog over the campfire. The hot dogs were almost finished and then they would move on to the "second course". The "first course" was a chili that Matt had made, but he didn't tell them what was in it. Mr. Ishida had adamantly refused to eat one bite of it and insisted he would just wait until the hot dogs were done.
Tai gulped his cola in an attempt to ease the pain in his mouth. Izzy gulped and looked at his own bowl of chili again.
"What's in it?" the redhead asked nervously, his black eyes worried.
"Eat it first, then I'll tell you," the blonde teenager cheerfully told him.
"Thanks a lot."
Izzy ate a bite of the chili mix in front of him, wondering what exactly was in it. His mind was so distracted that he kept eating, not noticing the burning sensation on his tongue.
That's when it hit him all at once.
"Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeoooooooowwwwwwwwww!!!"
Izzy chugged his root beer while Tai and Matt went into hysterics.
Matt wiped a tear from his eye as he exclaimed, "Took you a while! Apparently, your nervous system doesn't work as fast as your brain does!"
"Thut up…" Izzy grumbled, his tongue hanging out of his mouth in an attempt to ease the pain which, of course, caused Matt and Tai to laugh all the harder. As soon as the burning sensation had eased somewhat, he asked, "What's in this stuff anyway?!"
The blonde laughed before he answered, "It's the same stuff I gave TK a few days ago. It has a little bit of hot sauce, a little wassabi…and a mystery meat I found covered in green fuzz!"
His brown-haired friend's eyes were as big as saucers as he almost choked on his cola. Izzy looked as if he'd been poisoned. Matt clamped his lips together in an attempt to stop his laughter. At the looks on his friends' faces, Matt could hardly keep his lips sealed in order to stop laughing but did manage to do so. Therefore, his laughter took the only way out…
…in the form of a loud snort.
Tai began to snicker almost immediately before he burst into hysterics once more. The only redhead of the group merely shook his head, but a small smirk was on his lips. The blonde was laughing as well while his father rolled his eyes.
"Hot dogs are ready," Mr. Ishida stated.
"About time," Tai said, still snickering, "I don't think I could survive another bowl of Matt's 'Chili-O'-Death'."
~@~
The group had gathered around the campfire toasting marshmallows and eating S'mores a while later. Each person tried to top the ghost story of the person before him. Tai finished his ghost story in a quiet tone of voice, the flames lighting his face eerily.
"…And when Todd walked out to the graveyard, he did not see his dear Beloved. He called out her name over and over, but she did not answer. Finally, he rested by a single gravestone that had not been tended to in several years.
"On the tombstone was written 'Beloved Franklin. September 13, 1978 – August 15, 1990. Beautiful and kind daughter.'"
"Lame!" Matt shouted. "That was so lame!"
Tai grumbled as Mr. Ishida laughed. "Don't worry about it, Tai. When I was a kid, I was the one who always fell asleep around the campfire."
The brown-haired teen grumbled a bit more before turning cheerfully to Izzy. "Your turn!"
Izzy thought for a moment, trying to think of a story they might not have heard. Finally, one came to mind. "My dad told me this story when I was three. It's called 'Taily Bone'."
"'Taily Bone'?" Tai asked incredulously. "What kind of title is that?"
Mr. Ishida raised an eyebrow. "I haven't heard that story since I was eight."
"Give me a break! It was the best I could think of!" Izzy muttered.
The blonde teen of the group slung an arm around Izzy's shoulders. "Go on ahead, Izzy. I've never heard it."
The redhead took a deep breath. "One night, a man was sitting in his cottage alone. He was making chili, only he didn't have any meat with him. That's when a large possum tail snaked its way down the chimney over the chili. The man quickly grabbed a carving knife and chopped off the possum's tail. The tail fell into the pot of chili, providing the meat for the man's dinner." Izzy's voice grew quiet. "Later that evening after he'd finished eating, he heard a scritch-scritch-scritch at the door." He spoke now in a Southern accent. "'Taily bone…Taily bone…I want my taily bone…'"
Matt exchanged glances with Tai. Sure, the story was creepy, but not enough to scare them.
They turned back to Izzy as Izzy's voice spoke a bit softer. "Then, the man heard a scritch-scritch-scritch at the window. 'Taily bone…taily bone…I want my taily bone…'"
When Izzy said the possum's line of "Taily bone…taily bone…I want my taily bone…", his voice took on that Southern accent once more. At the same time, his narration became quieter and quieter. His listeners leaned closer and closer in order to hear.
Now, the redhead's voice was barely above a whisper. "Then…the man heard a scritch-scritch-scritch at the chimney. 'Taily bone…taily bone…I want my taily bone…and I want it NOW!!!"
The last word was yelled as loud as possible, causing the redhead's listeners to jump in surprise and fright.
At the surprised looks on the others' faces, Izzy began laughing hysterically. "Oh, man! I didn't think that one would work!"
"It wasn't the story!" Matt protested angrily. "It was the way you told it!"
By now Izzy had sat down on the bench of a picnic table, unable to stand any longer. Matt and Tai exchanged diabolical looks before they grabbed their laughing friend by the arms and legs. Izzy's laughter gave way to a yelp of surprise as the two older boys ran him towards the lake nearby.
"Don't you dare!" the redhead shouted.
However, it was far too late. Matt and Tai flung their smaller friend into the lake. When he came up for air, Izzy saw the two of them on their knees laughing. Even Mr. Ishida was laughing his head off. Thinking threats towards the three on the shore, Izzy swam to the edge and came out of the water.
"I'm going to go get changed," Izzy grumbled, his black eyes shooting death glares at the two who had caused him to become wet.
"Go on…ahead!" Tai laughed, gulping in air.
As Izzy walked towards the cabin while dripping water all over the ground, Matt and Tai struggled to walk back to the picnic table where Izzy's Pineapple laptop had been set up. As they began to stop laughing, they heard a faint beeping.
They were being e-mailed by the younger group of Digidestined.
Fun was over. It was time to go to work.
A/N: And that leads into where the Trio pops up in the three episodes for "The Digital Emperor's Revenge" thingamajig. Whew! Took me long enough! Anyway, the story "Taily Bone" is a real ghost story! One of my sister's old friends told it to my sister and I. So if ya wanna steal it for any reason at all, go on ahead!