Gatomon's Gloves
By
Ragland Tiger
"Kindness is more important than wisdom, and the recognition
of this is the beginning of wisdom."
--Theodore Isaac Rubin
1
"I swear, I don't know what makes you do this to yourself."
She watched him tie the makeshift bandage to the bite wound on her arm, too exhausted to even yelp from the pain. She then stared blankly out at the mountain wilderness that she had made her home. It didn't seem like home anymore. She heard the rustling of water as Neromon soaked and wrung out what was left of the rag in the stream. He turned and climbed up on the rock next to her.
"Now let's you and I have a little understanding."
She felt the gentlest touch of the ice-cold rag on the side of her face. The pain made her flinch, and she heard Neromon sigh.
"Picking a fight with a gazimon is my job. Got that?"
"I couldn't just stand by and let him hurt you!" she said.
Neromon lowered his large, tufted ears. "As long as I can digivolve, I can look out for the both of us. Humans! Always trying to fight what they don't have a clue about!"
"So, why haven't you digivolved yet?" she said.
Neromon squirmed. "Well, er, uh... you know... These things take time..."
"Some digimon you turned out to be! You're not digivolving because you can't! You don't even have an attack to speak of!"
She felt him tug her good arm up and firmly plant her hand on the rag against her face.
"Just hold that there."
She heard him hit the ground with a small thud and step in front of her.
"Look at me, Tigger."
She stared at the ground.
"Criminy, will you look at me!"
She slowly raised her gaze to the gaudy orange-with-purple-stripes cat-like digimon. His deep emerald eyes went from a look of irritation to a look of concern. "Tig, you've been getting awfully reckless lately, even for you. What's bothering you, Kiddo?"
"I want to be a digimon."
"We've already had that conversation. Why don't you try saying what's really..."
"Well maybe being a digimon is better than being a petty thief, or a cripple, or a dumb human!"
Neromon had a certain look when he thought she was trying to hide from something.
Tigger put on the hardest expression she could muster. "If you're waiting for me to cry, you can forget it! I don't have any more tears left."
And with that, she smacked the cloth down on the ground and almost fell trying to rise to her feet when Neromon caught her. "Let go of me!" she grumbled, yanking her arm away. The nerve of him! She had been hobbling up and down these mountains for ages. She made her way to the small cave and lied down inside, picking up her suede hat and putting it over her face. She drifted into a sound sleep.
It didn't seem like a long time when she heard to the sound of voices outside the cave. Neromon was talking to someone, but who?
"How are you two getting on?"
Neromon turned to see the little old man in the rumpled tunic.
"I need help."
"That bad, eh?"
"Ever since I lost my partner, I just haven't been the same. I'm telling you, the connection just isn't there." Neromon looked over at the cave. "You should hear the horror stories she tells me. I want to do somethin', but I just don't know how. If I were in her home world right now I'd teach them a lesson they'd never ..."
"Neromon! For your sake and hers!"
"I know, I know. It's just that I, er, well she, uh- it just isn't right, that's all."
Gennai smiled. "No need to explain, my friend; I understand perfectly. I think I may have an idea."
Neromon looked suspiciously at his doddering elderly friend.
"What kind of idea?"
Tigger felt an abrupt nudge on her shoulder. Neromon's the voice crackled in her ears. "Up and at 'em, sleepin' beauty. "
"What do you want now?", she said.
"Come on, let's get moving. We've got a lot of ground to cover. "
Tigger stretched her arms and yawned. "What do you mean?"
"We're going to see a friend of a friend. He wants to meet you. It's about two days' hike as the Biyomon flies. "
"Right," said Tigger, disbelieving. "Like my legs can hold out that long ..."
"Don't sweat it," said Neromon, "I got you some personal transportation. "
"Personal transportation?"
"C'mon, you'll see."
Tigger slowly got up and followed Neromon outside the cave. When she saw what he was talking about, she frowned. "I just splinted the wing on this Unimon two days ago! She's in no condition to ..."
The Unimon let out a loud winnie.
"She insists", said Neromon. "Besides, we're not talking about flying here."
Tigger turned to the Unimon. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
The Unimon nodded, and lied down to allow Tigger to get on her back. Tigger was careful to not disturb the creature's injured wing. She then held out her hand to Neromon.
"Come on- you too."
"Nah, I'm just deadweight. I'll walk it."
Then the unimon got up and they all made thier way to the desert, with Neromon leading the way.
It took a whole day to reach the edge of the forest. They all got a good night's rest before continuing. That morning, they walked the last bit of ground before coming to a clearing. Tigger stood next to the Unimon, and looked out over the vast, forbidding desert. She swallowed, and nervously checked her shoulder bag to make sure that they had enough food and water for the trip. Meanwhile, Neromon had started walking on to the sand, and was yards ahead of them when he stopped and turned around to see Tigger, frozen in her tracks, with an awestruck expession on her face.
"Criminy!", Neromon said, "Are you comin' or aren't ya?"
He saw the Unimon lower her face near Tigger's shoulder. He then walked back to them, and gently touched Tigger's trembling hand. "Hey, this isn't anything to be afraid of. Compared to those mountains back there, this is a walk in the Primary Village."
Tigger stood silent.
"How about this, then-" Neromon continued. "Didn't you say to me, a long time ago, that a ship in the harbor is safe, but that ain't what ships are made for?"
Tigger looked at Neromon, who was now wearing a big, toothy grin.
"The next time I say that", said Tigger, "tell me to shut up."
Nonetheless, she got back on the unimon, and took a deep breath. "Let's go."
As they began the long trek Tigger began to sing.
"The bear went over the mountain,
The bear went over the mountain,
The bear went over the mountain,
to see what he could see.
To see what he could see,
To see what he could see
The other side of the mountain,
The other side of the mountain,
The other side of the mountain,
was all that he could see..."
