Author's note: This story is set in a side universe to the Digimon series. Therefore, it doesn't follow the plot line. Also, I'm looking for a beta-reader or editor. If you're willing to help me out, send me an e-mail at aeb2085@yahoo.com.
"Hello. My name is Monodramon," said a voice from the darkness.
The girl on the ground opened her eyes. "Ahhhh!" She lurched upright and backed up quickly. The voice belonged to what looked like a stubby blue dinosaur, something she had never seen before. A quick look around confirmed her suspicions. "Just what are you and where am I?"
The creature smiled and repeated herself. "My name is Monodramon. I'm your partner."
The girl blinked. Talking dinosaurs were not a normal occurrence in her experience. "Partner? What do you mean by that?" She ran her hand down her long braid, reassuring herself at least something was normal. "My name is Merrill."
The dinsaur smiled even wider, and made what was probably supposed to be a bow. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm here to help you, and you are here to help me. Partners."
Merrill sighed and shook her head. "Not quite what I meant. Do you have any idea what is going on here?"
Monodramon nodded. "Follow me. We're supposed to meet up with the others."
"Others?" No response from her partner. Merrill shrugged and followed after her, occasionally brushing branches out of her face. She began to rub her wrists, a habit she had picked up after her attempt. The scars were still there, a reminder of how low she had sunk. Then, all of the sudden, a male voice broke the silence.
"Ahhhhh!"
Merrill stopped dead in her tracks. "What was that?" She ran past Monodramon towards the source of the voice. She slowed down as she got closer, ending up creeping from tree to tree, trying to make sure no one noticed her. Luckily, the boy had his back to her, allowing her to spy on him without being seen. He was on crutches, that was the first thing she noticed. There. A cast covering his right foot and lower leg. That explained things. He had on an orange long-sleeved shirt, strange not only because it wasn't cold, but because he didn't look comfortable in it, as if he hadn't chosen his own clothes that morning. She glanced down at her own clothes. Yellow T-shirt and jeans. Not what she had been wearing before she ended up here, but still something she would wear.
When she looked up again, she saw that a.... thing had moved into her view, facing the boy. It was red, looked like a dog, and had what looked like nine tails. Not dangerous at all. She debated walking out and introducing herself, but was saved from having to make a decision when Monodramon caught up to her and saw the others. "Elecmon! You found him! I found mine too."
Merrill slumped and put her head in her hands. "Haven't you heard of something called 'stealth'?"
"Of course. But Elecmon isn't dangerous. At least not to us."
She shrugged, then stuck out her hand. "My name is Merrill." The boy stuck out his hand and shook.
"I am Lev. It is a pleasure to meet you."
"Hey, there are other people here. Great!" A girl came into sight, wearing a red tank top and carrying a large bag. Next to her was another of the creatures, this one a white miniature t-rex. "My name is Amata, and the digimon is Yuki Agumon."
"My name is Lev." He pointed at Elecmon, who had stopped talking to Monodramon and was now staring at Amata and Yuki Agumon. "This is my digimon, Elecmon."
Merrill smiled at Amata. "My name is Merrill, and that is Monodramon. Do you have any idea what's going on?"
Before Amata could speak Elecmon piped up. "That's right. We'd better get moving. It's not very safe around here right now. Things will be safer if you follow us. We know exactly where to go." The three humans looked at each other, shrugged, and followed after their digimon.
Merrill lapsed into silence, while Lev and Amata talked next to her. A sudden thought made her jerk upright. She patted her pockets frantically. Her right hand hit something in her pocket, but it was rectangular, not the comforting tube she had come to rely upon. She pulled it out without bothering to look at it, and her hand dove back into her pocket. Nothing, and no holes. She slowly closed her eyes and took a deep breath. This was not good.
"Penmon, I found them! Didn't you say there would be more?" Walking towards them from the left was a boy closely trailed by a purple penguin. My name is Rujul." He stopped and waited as two more humans and their digimon appeared behind him. "This is Afam, her digimon Candmon, and this is Mowan and his digimon Elecmon." Afam smiled widely, glad she wasn't the only female. Mowan gave a half bow and shook each of their hands.
"Come on everyone, it's not safe here. We have to keep going," Elecmon said.
Elecmon shook her head and gave Candmon a look. "Always the impatient one, aren't you? No one is in danger of their lives right at this moment, and there are still several humans and their partners missing. We can't reach the Temple without them you know."
Candmon started to say something, but Lopmon cut him off. "Can't you two ever stop arguing? Now of all times especially." The two digimon looked embarassed and dropped their aggressive stances.
"Why do you continue to talk about 'danger'?" asked Lev.
"It will be easier to explain it only one time. Once everyone is together and we have camped for the night we will explain everything," replied Candmon, the candle digimon looking at the others. After seeing their nods, she turned back to the humans. "We should get moving again." With that, she started back off into the forest. The digimon followed after her without hesitation. The humans shrugged and walked a few steps behind.
Merrill found herself walking next to Mowan, while Lev and the others walked ahead. She was happy walking along in silence, but Mowan seemed to have other ideas. "What's that in your hand?" Merrill just looked at him, not understanding. He gestured at her hand. "That." She looked down, having forgotten about it in her panic over her missing medication.
"This? I found it in my pocket when I was looking for something." Mowan raised a blond eyebrow at that, but said nothing. The yellow rectangle was about the size of her hand. On one side was a screen the length of it and a directional pad below it. On the back was a white picture. It looked like a circle with five small triangles around it, and a comets tail coming from the bottom. "I have no idea what it does." Mowan shrugged, unable to give any more information.
"I've got one myself. I found it in my shirt pocket when I woke up here." He made a face. "Pink is not a color I would have chosen on my own." He pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to Merrill, and Merrill handed hers to him. The devices were identical, except for the color and design on the back. Mowans' was pink, and the design was a stylized flower with petals. She turned it back over and began scrutinizing the buttons.
She looked up in surprise when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Watch out, there are a lot of low-hanging branches around here." Only a couple of inches from her face was a branch. She felt her face turn red in embarrassment.
"Thanks. I guess I'd better pay attention to what's in front of me instead of this thing." She handed it back to Mowan and Mowan gave hers back. "Do you have any idea what's going on here?"
Mowan shook his head. "I have no idea. I fell asleep, then they next thing I know I'm on the ground with Lopmon staring at me."
"Really? The same thing happened to me. One second sound asleep and the next Monodramon woke me up." She shrugged. "I hope Candmon and the others can explain what's going on."
Mowan nodded. "I do too."
The group walked on through the forest chatting easily with one another. Half an hour later two people and their digimon came upon them, introducing themselves as Jenelle and Kokuwamon, Steele and Alraumon. They were quickly welcomed and the finally complete group continued walking.
As the sun went down the going got tougher and tougher until Elecmon halted the group.
The group walked on through the forest chatting easily with one another. Half an hour later two people and their digimon came upon them, introducing themselves as Jenelle and Kokuwamon, Steele and Alraumon. They were quickly welcomed and the finally complete group continued walking.
As the sun went down the going got tougher and tougher until Elecmon halted the group. "We'll set up camp here for tonight, and continue going tomorrow morning. There should only be about a half an hour more until the forest ends, then about midday we should arrive at the Temple. Assuming nothing goes wrong, of course." Elecmon glanced over at Kokuwamon, who nodded and wandered into the forest.
Jenelle began glaring at Elecmon. "Where's she going?"
As if in response, from the direction Kokuwamon had gone came, "Scissor Arms Mini!" and the sound of splintering wood. As one, the unknowing DigiDestined ran to Kokuwamon and watched in amazement as she began cutting up another branch. "Scissor Arms Mini!"
Jenelle's jaw dropped. "What the... this is amazing!" She turned to Elecmon. "Can all of you do that?"
Elecmon nodded. "We all have our own special attacks. They're only used in defense, or when it's needed in other situations."
Jenelle began to grin and quickly reached into the backpack that had come with her for a pen and a notebook. The notebook was already filled with pages of tiny handwriting. She turned to a blank page. "What are your attacks?"
Surprised, Elecmon had to think for a few seconds before answering. "Blazing Thunder and Nine Tails."
"What do they look like?"
Elecmon was spared answering when Kokuwamon spoke instead. "Jenelle, you're doing it again, aren't you?" To the others she explained, "She did the same thing to me when she first woke up."
Jenelle looked embarassed and put the notebook away. "I just wanted to know."
"Everything will be explained once we get camp set up," Elecmon said.
Kokuwamon lumbered back over to the branch he was carving into peices, followed by Alraumon. Jenelle quickly went over to watch, while the others picked up rocks and smaller branches. Once Kokuwamon was done cutting branches it was Alraumon's turn. "Nemesis Ivy!" The plant digimon wrapped her vines around the branches and began dragging them back to the place Elecmon had designated as camp. Jenelle whipped out her notebook and began writing furiously, managing to restrain herself from asking any more questions.
After a few minutes Steele noticed what was going on, and walked over to Jenelle. "Do you mind not following Alraumon around? It's beginning to get annoying."
Jenelle stared at him. "Alarumon hasn't said anything about it."
"Just stop it, ok?"
She shook her head. "Right, whatever you say." She put the pen and notebook back into her pack, and wandered off to pick up sticks for the firepit, muttering about weird guys and their digimon.
Elecmon guided the building of the campsite and firepit, and soon there was a large fire contained safely within the pit, courtesy of a spark provided by Kokuwamon. Once everone was settled, Elecmon began to speak. "I told you earlier in the day that once we camped for the night I would explain what is going on. We're camped now, and now is the time for explaining. As you might have noticed, this isn't Earth. It's the Digital World, made up of data, except for you. You are the first humans that have ever been here. You wouldn't be here at all, except something has gone terribly wrong."
"Hello. My name is Monodramon," said a voice from the darkness.
The girl on the ground opened her eyes. "Ahhhh!" She lurched upright and backed up quickly. The voice belonged to what looked like a stubby blue dinosaur, something she had never seen before. A quick look around confirmed her suspicions. "Just what are you and where am I?"
The creature smiled and repeated herself. "My name is Monodramon. I'm your partner."
The girl blinked. Talking dinosaurs were not a normal occurrence in her experience. "Partner? What do you mean by that?" She ran her hand down her long braid, reassuring herself at least something was normal. "My name is Merrill."
The dinsaur smiled even wider, and made what was probably supposed to be a bow. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm here to help you, and you are here to help me. Partners."
Merrill sighed and shook her head. "Not quite what I meant. Do you have any idea what is going on here?"
Monodramon nodded. "Follow me. We're supposed to meet up with the others."
"Others?" No response from her partner. Merrill shrugged and followed after her, occasionally brushing branches out of her face. She began to rub her wrists, a habit she had picked up after her attempt. The scars were still there, a reminder of how low she had sunk. Then, all of the sudden, a male voice broke the silence.
"Ahhhhh!"
Merrill stopped dead in her tracks. "What was that?" She ran past Monodramon towards the source of the voice. She slowed down as she got closer, ending up creeping from tree to tree, trying to make sure no one noticed her. Luckily, the boy had his back to her, allowing her to spy on him without being seen. He was on crutches, that was the first thing she noticed. There. A cast covering his right foot and lower leg. That explained things. He had on an orange long-sleeved shirt, strange not only because it wasn't cold, but because he didn't look comfortable in it, as if he hadn't chosen his own clothes that morning. She glanced down at her own clothes. Yellow T-shirt and jeans. Not what she had been wearing before she ended up here, but still something she would wear.
When she looked up again, she saw that a.... thing had moved into her view, facing the boy. It was red, looked like a dog, and had what looked like nine tails. Not dangerous at all. She debated walking out and introducing herself, but was saved from having to make a decision when Monodramon caught up to her and saw the others. "Elecmon! You found him! I found mine too."
Merrill slumped and put her head in her hands. "Haven't you heard of something called 'stealth'?"
"Of course. But Elecmon isn't dangerous. At least not to us."
She shrugged, then stuck out her hand. "My name is Merrill." The boy stuck out his hand and shook.
"I am Lev. It is a pleasure to meet you."
"Hey, there are other people here. Great!" A girl came into sight, wearing a red tank top and carrying a large bag. Next to her was another of the creatures, this one a white miniature t-rex. "My name is Amata, and the digimon is Yuki Agumon."
"My name is Lev." He pointed at Elecmon, who had stopped talking to Monodramon and was now staring at Amata and Yuki Agumon. "This is my digimon, Elecmon."
Merrill smiled at Amata. "My name is Merrill, and that is Monodramon. Do you have any idea what's going on?"
Before Amata could speak Elecmon piped up. "That's right. We'd better get moving. It's not very safe around here right now. Things will be safer if you follow us. We know exactly where to go." The three humans looked at each other, shrugged, and followed after their digimon.
Merrill lapsed into silence, while Lev and Amata talked next to her. A sudden thought made her jerk upright. She patted her pockets frantically. Her right hand hit something in her pocket, but it was rectangular, not the comforting tube she had come to rely upon. She pulled it out without bothering to look at it, and her hand dove back into her pocket. Nothing, and no holes. She slowly closed her eyes and took a deep breath. This was not good.
"Penmon, I found them! Didn't you say there would be more?" Walking towards them from the left was a boy closely trailed by a purple penguin. My name is Rujul." He stopped and waited as two more humans and their digimon appeared behind him. "This is Afam, her digimon Candmon, and this is Mowan and his digimon Elecmon." Afam smiled widely, glad she wasn't the only female. Mowan gave a half bow and shook each of their hands.
"Come on everyone, it's not safe here. We have to keep going," Elecmon said.
Elecmon shook her head and gave Candmon a look. "Always the impatient one, aren't you? No one is in danger of their lives right at this moment, and there are still several humans and their partners missing. We can't reach the Temple without them you know."
Candmon started to say something, but Lopmon cut him off. "Can't you two ever stop arguing? Now of all times especially." The two digimon looked embarassed and dropped their aggressive stances.
"Why do you continue to talk about 'danger'?" asked Lev.
"It will be easier to explain it only one time. Once everyone is together and we have camped for the night we will explain everything," replied Candmon, the candle digimon looking at the others. After seeing their nods, she turned back to the humans. "We should get moving again." With that, she started back off into the forest. The digimon followed after her without hesitation. The humans shrugged and walked a few steps behind.
Merrill found herself walking next to Mowan, while Lev and the others walked ahead. She was happy walking along in silence, but Mowan seemed to have other ideas. "What's that in your hand?" Merrill just looked at him, not understanding. He gestured at her hand. "That." She looked down, having forgotten about it in her panic over her missing medication.
"This? I found it in my pocket when I was looking for something." Mowan raised a blond eyebrow at that, but said nothing. The yellow rectangle was about the size of her hand. On one side was a screen the length of it and a directional pad below it. On the back was a white picture. It looked like a circle with five small triangles around it, and a comets tail coming from the bottom. "I have no idea what it does." Mowan shrugged, unable to give any more information.
"I've got one myself. I found it in my shirt pocket when I woke up here." He made a face. "Pink is not a color I would have chosen on my own." He pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to Merrill, and Merrill handed hers to him. The devices were identical, except for the color and design on the back. Mowans' was pink, and the design was a stylized flower with petals. She turned it back over and began scrutinizing the buttons.
She looked up in surprise when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Watch out, there are a lot of low-hanging branches around here." Only a couple of inches from her face was a branch. She felt her face turn red in embarrassment.
"Thanks. I guess I'd better pay attention to what's in front of me instead of this thing." She handed it back to Mowan and Mowan gave hers back. "Do you have any idea what's going on here?"
Mowan shook his head. "I have no idea. I fell asleep, then they next thing I know I'm on the ground with Lopmon staring at me."
"Really? The same thing happened to me. One second sound asleep and the next Monodramon woke me up." She shrugged. "I hope Candmon and the others can explain what's going on."
Mowan nodded. "I do too."
The group walked on through the forest chatting easily with one another. Half an hour later two people and their digimon came upon them, introducing themselves as Jenelle and Kokuwamon, Steele and Alraumon. They were quickly welcomed and the finally complete group continued walking.
As the sun went down the going got tougher and tougher until Elecmon halted the group.
The group walked on through the forest chatting easily with one another. Half an hour later two people and their digimon came upon them, introducing themselves as Jenelle and Kokuwamon, Steele and Alraumon. They were quickly welcomed and the finally complete group continued walking.
As the sun went down the going got tougher and tougher until Elecmon halted the group. "We'll set up camp here for tonight, and continue going tomorrow morning. There should only be about a half an hour more until the forest ends, then about midday we should arrive at the Temple. Assuming nothing goes wrong, of course." Elecmon glanced over at Kokuwamon, who nodded and wandered into the forest.
Jenelle began glaring at Elecmon. "Where's she going?"
As if in response, from the direction Kokuwamon had gone came, "Scissor Arms Mini!" and the sound of splintering wood. As one, the unknowing DigiDestined ran to Kokuwamon and watched in amazement as she began cutting up another branch. "Scissor Arms Mini!"
Jenelle's jaw dropped. "What the... this is amazing!" She turned to Elecmon. "Can all of you do that?"
Elecmon nodded. "We all have our own special attacks. They're only used in defense, or when it's needed in other situations."
Jenelle began to grin and quickly reached into the backpack that had come with her for a pen and a notebook. The notebook was already filled with pages of tiny handwriting. She turned to a blank page. "What are your attacks?"
Surprised, Elecmon had to think for a few seconds before answering. "Blazing Thunder and Nine Tails."
"What do they look like?"
Elecmon was spared answering when Kokuwamon spoke instead. "Jenelle, you're doing it again, aren't you?" To the others she explained, "She did the same thing to me when she first woke up."
Jenelle looked embarassed and put the notebook away. "I just wanted to know."
"Everything will be explained once we get camp set up," Elecmon said.
Kokuwamon lumbered back over to the branch he was carving into peices, followed by Alraumon. Jenelle quickly went over to watch, while the others picked up rocks and smaller branches. Once Kokuwamon was done cutting branches it was Alraumon's turn. "Nemesis Ivy!" The plant digimon wrapped her vines around the branches and began dragging them back to the place Elecmon had designated as camp. Jenelle whipped out her notebook and began writing furiously, managing to restrain herself from asking any more questions.
After a few minutes Steele noticed what was going on, and walked over to Jenelle. "Do you mind not following Alraumon around? It's beginning to get annoying."
Jenelle stared at him. "Alarumon hasn't said anything about it."
"Just stop it, ok?"
She shook her head. "Right, whatever you say." She put the pen and notebook back into her pack, and wandered off to pick up sticks for the firepit, muttering about weird guys and their digimon.
Elecmon guided the building of the campsite and firepit, and soon there was a large fire contained safely within the pit, courtesy of a spark provided by Kokuwamon. Once everone was settled, Elecmon began to speak. "I told you earlier in the day that once we camped for the night I would explain what is going on. We're camped now, and now is the time for explaining. As you might have noticed, this isn't Earth. It's the Digital World, made up of data, except for you. You are the first humans that have ever been here. You wouldn't be here at all, except something has gone terribly wrong."