"I've got to find her! I've got to find her!" Gatomon thought as she ran through the forest. She was tiring quickly, and she didn't know how much farther she had to go. Scrambling through a particularly scratchy bush, Gatomon had to stop to catch her breath. Looking ahead, she saw a soft glow coming through the trees. As she ran towards it, Gatomon could feel that her goal was near. Running faster, she burst into the clearing, hoping, knowing that she would be there. What she saw filled her heart with terror. There stood Myotismon, an eerie, red light emanating from him. But Gatomon's eyes were fixed only on the limp form in his arms. A human child.
Breathing hard, as if she had just run two laps around Myotismon's castle, Gatomon woke up. Looking around the bare room that served as her living quarters, Gatomon thought, "Why do I keep having that dream, and who am I searching for?"
Gatomon's thoughts were rudely interrupted by Demidevimon. "Oh your royal catness," he said with a sneer, "Lord Myotismon wants to see you in the throne room right now. So scat, cat!"
Still in a bad mood from her nightmare, Gatomon swiftly grabbed one of Demidevimon's wings and pinned him to the ground. "I don't have to listen to a creep like you," she said, "and if I didn't think Lord Myotismon would miss you, you would be kitty litter!" With that, she stalked off, leaving a loudly protesting Demidevimon behind her.
Walking down the damp, gray halls leading to the throne room, Gatomon tried to hide her fear. Even as one of Lord Myotismon's most important servants, she wasn't treated better by him. During the time she had served him, she had received many beatings from him. As a matter of fact, she got the hardest beatings of anyone whenever she got into trouble. Lord Myotismon told Gatomon that it was her fault, that he couldn't stand her looking at him with "those eyes" as he called them. "What's wrong with my eyes?" she wondered, "What's wrong with me?"
Stopping before the great double doors, Gatomon slid the glove off her left paw. Underneath, there was an ugly pink scar. She had received this in one of the worst beatings Myotismon had given her. She wondered if this would be one of those times now. Shaking her head to clear away the thoughts, Gatomon pushed open the doors, walked in, and kneeled before the throne.
Trying to keep fear from her voice, Gatomon said, "You desired my presence, Lord Myotismon?"
"Yes, Gatomon," said Myotismon, "I have a special mission for you. There is a rumor that somewhere on File Island there is a place called Primary Village, which is filled with baby digimon. If we could find that place and kidnap the digi-babies, we could soon have an army of Digimon ready to destroy those meddling Digidestine brats. I want you to find this Village, kidnap one of the babies, and bring it back for experimentation."
"Lord Myotismon," said Gatomon, "I don't wish to question, but what do I know about babies? How would I take care of it on the way back? Wouldn't it be easier for me to just steal an egg to bring back?"
I don't care how you do it, but I must have a baby Digimon to experiment on, whether in an egg or otherwise!" Myotismon said, "Now go prepare for your journey. I want you to leave tomorrow morning. I will prepare transportation across the ocean, but from there on, you're on your own".
"Yes, my lord," said Gatomon, backing out into the hall. After she had left, a figure materialized out of the shadows beside the throne. "My Lord," said Ladydevimon, "are you sure Gatomon is capable of handling this mission? The trip will be very dangerous."
"I'm not worried about her capability, but I am very worried about her loyalty. That's why I am sending you to follow her," Myotismon said.
Ladydevimon's eyes narrowed. "And if she isn't loyal?" she asked.
"If she isn't loyal, take her out, permanently," he finished.
"It will be a pleasure," said Ladydevimon, melting back into the shadows. "A real pleasure".
* * * * *
Gatomon sighed with relief, and felt tense muscles ease up as she padded back to her room. "That could have gone a lot worse," she thought. "Find Primary Village and steal an egg, that's all. The hardest part of this will be getting Veggiemon to give some food for my trip!" But no matter how hard she tried to convince herself, Gatomon could feel the fur on the back of her neck tingling, and knew that some kind of danger was in store for her.
Arriving at her room, Gatomon found her kitty-sized backpack, and headed to the kitchen to face-off with Veggiemon.