Dragons
by DarkGatomon

Dedicated to Randal

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon: Digital Monsters, or anything relating to it. It is owned by Saban, Toei, FoxKids, and/or Bandai and other people or corporations. I do not claim to own Digimon: Digital Monsters or the characters thereof. I do, however, own the ideas included in this story.

Note: This story takes place near the end of 01. The kids have defeated the Dark Masters, but haven't found Apoclymon yet. The world looks just the way it used to, though, and all of their Digimon friends are still around. *sweatdrops* A bit of an AU, you might say.

"Well, that was fun," commented Joe sarcastically, "but what do we do now?"

"We could always try walking back down the mountain." Matt pointed out the inevitable solution. "Which is likely to be just as much fun as walking up." They had climbed to the top of an incredibly tall mountain in order to get their bearings, but hadn't found anything that would help them at all. Just forest, desert, lakes and rivers, some sort of tundra, and what looked startling like a grassy meadow.

"I didn't know there were meadows in the Digiworld," commented Sora.

"That would be a bizarre phenomenon," pointed out Izzy. "After all, there are plenty of them on Earth, and this is its shadow world, so..."

Tai groaned, cutting him off. "Couldn't you just say, 'of course there are'? We don't need to know the science behind meadows." Izzy looked slightly hurt.

Mimi walked over to the edge. "It's so pretty!"

"Yeah, it is, isn't it?" said Sora, smiling.

"Why don't we go there next?" suggested Kari.

Tai looked at his sister and shrugged. "I don't see why not. That's as good a direction as any." They started picking their way down the steep, pathless slope.

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Deep inside the forest, a dark form was awakening. It stood up and walked over to the lake for a drink. The cold blue waters reflected its body: huge and bulking, with colossal wings with a sharp talon at each tip, strong legs, many-clawed feet, and a long tail, all covered with dark green scales that blended perfectly with the trees around him. He crouched before leaping through the canopy and gliding off through the sky to begin the day's hunting.

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"This mountain seems even bigger going down," complained T.K. as he barely avoided tripping over a rock. The others were in complete agreement. Even Joe, who was the best at mountain climbing, was having a hard time.

"I think we should take a break," Tai suggested, watching his weary friends.

"Good idea," agreed Sora as everybody sat down.

"Look on the bright side," suggested Tai with a smile. "No path means no evil Digimon to use it, right?"

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A dark form stirred in its chamber under the mountain. It raised its mighty head, listening for the noise that had awakened it from its slumber. There it was again. Footsteps, voices. He smiled wickedly. Right above his doorstep, too. This wasn't an opportunity to be wasted. He stood up, tucking his long wings neatly against his back.

He thrashed out his tail, hitting a button that was hidden in the rock wall. A rapidly widening crack appeared in front of him as the rock split in two, sliding noisily back into the wall. He walked forward a few steps until he was in open air, then spread his great wings and took flight. He wheeled easily around from the shadowy side of the mountain to the light. The sunlight shone on his leathery skin, which was black with streaks of red, making it look like dark fire. Unlike the green creature, his tail split near the end, ending in twin red flames. He turned and flew unerringly to his prey.

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The giant green creature had decided to hunt by the mountain today, having temporarily exhausted the prey in the nearby forest. He grinned. They always came back pretty quickly, anyhow.

As he neared the mountain, he slowed and began a long, graceful arc that would carry him around the peak. As he scanned the mountain, he saw something. Somethings to be exact. He beat his mighty wings and zoomed straight toward his prey.

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The group looked up at a startled cry from T.K. "Look!" There, off to the right, was a huge dark green beast, heading straight for them.

"Oh, no," cried Kari, point to a second, black and red beast that was closing in from the left. Trapped on side of the mountain, they would have no chance to run or hide. They had only one choice: they would have to fight.

Izzy had already opened his laptop, and was activating the Digimon analyzer. "It can't be..."

"Well? What are they?" demanded Matt.

"Well, that one's Dracomon, but the other one... the other one isn't in here." He looked up at the hulking beast. "That's not a Digimon."

"What else could it be?" asked Joe, his panic showing clearly through his voice.

Izzy gulped. "A nachash."

"A WHAT?" demanded Tai.

Izzy's voice was a whisper. "Dragon..."