A Little Side Adventure

Episode One: Getting Off Track

By Shelli-Jo Pelletier

(ussfantasy@hotmail.com)

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Disclaimer: The characters and concept of Digimon do not belong to me, and I take no credit for them. However, the original characters and the fanfic itself do, so please don't use either without my written permission. Thank you.

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Taichi Kamiya, better known as Tai, wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his white-gloved hand. In the other he held a small creature that resembled nothing more than a pink head with long ears. The creature was panting, his red eyes half-lidded and his ears drooping. All in all, he didn't look too good.

"How do you feel, Koromon?" Tai asked, feeling more than a little guilty. It was his fault Agumon was in this state, after all. And Agumon was his best friend in the whole Digiworld. How did you make up for something like that?

Koromon's eyes swiveled up to the brown-haired boy's face. When he spoke, Tai was alarmed at how faint his voice sounded. "I'm . . . tired . . . Tai."

He stopped and looked around the depressing landscape, shading his eyes with his free hand. Sand, sand and more sand was the only thing to greet his gaze. Nothing but endless desert in every direction, wavering like it did when you stared over a campfire for too long. He sighed.

"What's wrong?" Sora Tackenouchi and her parrot Digimon named Biyomon came up beside him. Biyomon's pink and blue crest feather was limp in the heat. She flipped it out of her face with a shake of her head.

The boy turned to Sora, his brown eyes worried. "I was looking for some shade. But there isn't any," he added unnecessarily, pointing to Koromon.

"Yeah." She nodded her understanding. Biyomon was leaning against her now, but she didn't seem to mind. "I think everyone could use a break," the girl said, motioning to their whole group. Tai looked.

Yamato "Matt" Ishida had been turned into a leaning post as well—and was being exploited from both sides. His dog-like Digimon Gabumon sweated beneath his white and blue fur coat on his right. On his left panted his younger brother Takeru Takaishi—T.K. Little Tokomon sat in his usual place on the boy's green helmet. Behind this quartet stood the other two female members of their group. Mimi Tachikawa was explaining the concept of suntan lotion to her plant Digimon Palmon, who was visibly wilting but trying to pay attention. Behind them Joe Kido was talking with Koushiro Izumi (Izzy was much easier to say) about something or other. Joe's water-loving Digimon Gomamon was in his arms, his tongue hanging out. He wasn't taking the heat too well either. Tentomon, Izzy's insect Digimon, stood nearby.

"This is all my fault," groaned Tai, head bowed. "If I hadn't tried to force Greymon to digi-volve. . . ."

Sora shook her head. "Stop beating yourself up about it," she advised him, fanning her face to get a bit of wind. "At least you learned a lesson, and you'll never do it again. I think you should say something."

Tai looked up and blinked, confused at the sudden change of subject. "What do you mean?"

"To them." Her eyes darted to the rest of the group. "You're our leader, after all. You should . . . I dunno. Say something inspiring. To keep us all going."

The boy frowned. He hated it when he had to do something because he was "the leader." He used to think it was cool, when he and the others first landed in Digiworld. But he soon learned it wasn't just telling people what to do. It was much more. Being a leader was hard. Like now, for example. He had to keep everyone going. He knew that if they started to lose hope . . . well, Etemon would be the least of their problems.

Tai turned around and faced his friends, Koromon tucked under one arm. When they noticed, the kids and their Digimon all straightened slightly, perking up a bit. Tai figured this was a good sign. At least they were making the effort to appear better than they must have felt.

"Listen, everybody," Tai began awkwardly. "I know you're hot and tired. And thirsty and hungry too. Well, we can't stop now. There's nothing here but lots of sand, so we have to keep going until we find something. So . . . so we can't give up. This desert has to end somewhere." He finally fell silent, wondering if they all thought he was weirding out.

Matt was the first one to speak. "Of course we're not giving up, Tai," he said. "We've still got to defeat Etemon, and get back home." The others were nodding in agreement.

"Yeah! When we get out of this desert, I'm going to go swimming!" Gomamon announced, grinning.

"Me too!" cried T.K. and Tokomon at the same time. Smiles appeared on the others' faces.

Tai smiled too. He had done it! It hadn't even been that hard. Now if he could just keep it up, and if Koromon could last that long. . . .

He looked down at his small Digimon. Koromon wasn't quite smiling, but he did look a little stronger. Though how much of it was just an act to make him feel better, Tai had no idea. "I'll be okay," Koromon promised softly, his voice still weak. "Maybe just a quick nap. . . ."

"Go right ahead, little buddy," Tai insisted. "I'll wake you up if anything happens." Koromon yawned and allowed his eyes to close.

"All right then! Let's go!" The boy leader turned back to the direction they had been heading in. He ordered his legs to start walking, taking purposeful strides forward and ignoring the annoyance of the sand slipping under his sneakers. Hearing the others falling into line behind him—and Koromon start to snore—Tai allowed himself to grin. His thoughts were once again self-confident and sure. They would reach the end of this desert. Eventually.

* * *

High above the landscape of dusty dunes, two smallish creatures sailed in slow, lazy circles. The heat billowed up like a great cushion of air under their wings, making flight effortless. They were so far up the desert spread like a living map below them, much too high to notice or be noticed by any being down there, or even a group of beings.

"Why did you bring us here, Tok?" one of the creatures demanded of the other, her voice feminine and exasperated. "It's so boring. Look, nothing but that awful tan color in every direction. Why, it'll take hours to fly to someplace interesting. We could have come in some other spot than this."

The other snorted and rolled his eyes. "You don't appreciate anything, Sarith, unless it's alive with color and action. You should learn to enjoy the calmer things in life." To demonstrate, he twitched his left wing and spiraled down several feet gracefully, before flapping a few times to regain altitude.

"Humph." She was unimpressed. "So why did you chose to come in here?"

"This is as good a place as any. I wasn't really paying attention. I just knew there was a world that the humans had made, unintentionally apparently. I wanted to check it out."

Sarith nodded. "Okay, but check what out? There's nothing here!"

Tok chuckled dryly. "Come on, let's go look!" He folded his wings, dropping down and shrinking to a small dot with surprising quickness. Sarith's blue-green eyes glinted. Oh, a challenge, huh? She drew her own wings close to her sides and plummeted after him, her ears plastered back against her skull. Tok's blue-purple body grew rapidly. She was right on his tail. With a little test of the currents of air passing over her body she twisted, shooting over and past Tok. Her triumphant shout followed her down to the earth.

Suddenly she could make out each and every grain of sand on the ground below. Too close! Sarith threw open her wings and cupped air frantically. Clouds of dust billowed up and obscured her sight as she hit the ground. Her four legs absorbed most of the impact, but she was still jarred a bit. Shaking her head to clear it, she was just able to make out Tok as he touched down beside her.

His grin was smug. "Oh, very nice, Sarith," he simpered, blinking innocently. "You sure showed me."

"Quiet," she giggled as she swatted him with her tail. "I did that on purpose."

"Suuuuurrreee."

"I did!"

"Yeah, and I'm a—look out!" His face registered total shock and he leapt into the air, flapping heavily. She didn't question but spread her wings and joined him, getting out of the way just in time as a giant cruise ship barreled under them!

Sarith's eyes lit up. "Whoa! How close was that!? Come on, let's go see what's on board!" She swooped after the huge ship.

Tok snorted and rolled his eyes. Color and action. That was all she cared about. Heaving a sigh of resignation he hurried to catch up before the vessel, which was traveling quite fast for something that was suppose to only work in large bodies of water, left him behind.

By the time he caught up, Sarith had already landed on deck and was surrounded by a swarm of ugly green and purple beings, looking slimy and wearing sailor suits. Their huge eyes, set on eyestalks, were all locked on her while she chatted on amiably. As he neared her voice reached his ears. "—he comes now! Tok! Come meet these beings! They call themselves Numemon."

His landing was a little clumsily, and he glared at her for making him exert himself. It wasn't easy to land on a moving ship! But before he could voice his complaints the Numemon, smelling as bad as they looked, gathered around him as well, ushering him through the ring to Sarith's side. They weren't speaking, just studying him and Sarith as if they were the most fascinating things in the world.

Finally one of them said, in a nasal voice, "Just what kind of Digimon are you?"

Sarith looked to Tok, confused. He explained quietly that the creatures who lived here were all of a type of beings called Digimon. "We are not from around here," he continued, turning to the one Numemon who had spoken. "We're just visiting."

The ugly group of Digimon looked at each other, scratching their heads with their stubby arms. It seemed to take them forever to understand this. While they mumbled and gestured and jostled amongst themselves, Sarith and Tok took a look around. The deck was large and flat and made of wood, and there was another level above them. At one end a pool of water was shining in the sun, with a table and umbrella next to it. It all looked very interesting.

"Hey, hey, hey! What's going on here?" a loud and obnoxious voice unexpectedly cawed down from above them. Tok and Sarith's heads snapped upward, to see a larger Digimon glaring down. This was an off-white bird with red-tipped tail feathers and a navy blue crest, complete with a fanged beak. Larger than the both of them together, he made the two slightly nervous as he leaped down and landed on the deck.

"I said," the Digimon repeated irritably, his angry eyes now on the Numemon, "what's going on?"

The green and purple Digimon who had spoken to them first, who Tok assumed was some kind of leader of the bunch, came forward and cringed at the bird's clawed feet. "We're very, very sorry, Kokatorimon!" he wailed. "These strange creatures say they aren't Digimon! They just landed on the ship, and we were just about to come find you—"

Ignoring the groveling Numemon, Kokatorimon strutted over to Tok and Sarith. The other Numemon scattered as he approached. He stared down them, and they returned the stare just as boldly. The tense moment was broken as the bird Digimon turned around and walked off. Casually, he called over his feathered shoulder as he vanished around the corner. "I have to get into my disguise. Lord Etemon will be very interested in these two. Capture them."

Immediately the Numemon whirled on the two creatures, the entire group radiating malevolence.

"What?" Sarith gasped, bewildered. "Who?"

"Questions later!" Tok shouted, shouldering her. "Fly now!" Her wings snapped open a split-second after his, and the two launched themselves skyward. Wind created from their takeoff momentarily blinded the Numemon crew, but the flyers knew it would only last for an instant. Tok led the way as they climbed almost completely vertical into the sky, but a screech from Sarith halted him in midair.

Tok's head jerked downward, and his blue-green eyes fell on the ship some fifteen feet below. Half the Numemon on deck were holding long fishing nets, which they twirled with their short arms and cast upward as if they were fishing in the sky. One of these had snagged around Sarith's tail and back feet. She twisted, snarled and snapped, beating her wings fiercely, but she was firmly caught and going nowhere. The Numemon began hauling the fish net down toward the deck, and her with it.

Tok growled, his eyes flashing with anger. Faster than a stooping falcon, he was diving at the ship. "Leave my sister alone!" he howled, and his voice was like furious thunder.

Many of the Numemon shrieked and fled the deck at the sound. But the one holding the net that snared Sarith remained. It looked frightened, but held on grimly. Several others grabbed onto the net to help reel the captured creature in.

Tok swept past Sarith, steadily zeroing in on the ship. As he swooped over the Numemon his jaws opened and he roared loudly. Following that roar was a blast of indigo-colored fire, the same shade as his body! The flame scorched the remaining Numemon, and they released the net and ran.

With expert ease Tok's wings spread and caught the wind, skimming him over the now-empty deck of the ship. Using the momentum gathered from his dive, he turned his downward plunge into a climb and rejoined Sarith. "Are you all right?" he asked breathlessly.

Hovering on unsteady wings, she finally managed to kick the entangling net off his back legs. "I'm fine," she muttered, but Tok could tell how upset she was by the look on her face.

"Come on, we're out of here," he announced, wheeling in the sky. She was right behind him as he sailed away from the horrible cruise ship and it's awful occupants as fast as his wings could take him.

* * *

For a long time they traveled in silence, side by side, so close their wingtips brushed together with each flap. Tok occasionally cast a worried glance over to his sister. Her lack of chatter told him volumes. She was in deep, serious thought. But Sarith wasn't one for deep thought, usually. For the most part, she was happy as long as she had interesting things to occupy her attention. Tok was worried.

Finally she sighed softly, her blue-green eyes sliding over to look at him. She caught him right in the middle of gazing at her, and gave a tentative smile that faded all too soon for his liking. "I didn't think. . . ." Sarith trailed off, then tried again. "I didn't think there would be such . . . evil, here. I wasn't prepared for it."

Despite himself, Tok couldn't help but snort and roll his eyes. "If you had waited a moment, you would have sensed their intentions yourself. But instead you dived in without a second thought, Sarith. You're too impulsive. I told you humans made this world. Did you honestly think it would be free of violence?"

She didn't immediately retort to his barbs, again out of character. Tok's jaw shut with a click. "You're right," she agreed, instead. "I should be more careful. It just . . . took me by surprise, that's all."

"Well, don't worry. You're safe now," he insisted, fluttering his left wing so a comforting breeze blew over her. "And this place has a lot of beauty and wonders too. It's not all bad."

The smile was brighter this time, and stayed. Sarith grinned cheekily as she did a little dip in the air. "Good! Show me these beauties and wonders. I'm bored!"

Tok stared incredulously. "You're intolerable!" he cried. But there was laughter in his voice, echoing the light feeling in his heart.

She ignored him and scanned the desert below. A tiny flash of green caught her eye. "Hey look, Tok! An oasis!"

He studied her find, frowning slightly. "There could be something there," he warned. "We should—"

"Oh calm down, Tok. If we see anyone, then we can make sure they're okay." This said, Sarith began a slow, even descent, carefully controlling the spilt air from her wings. Tok sighed with fond exasperation. Truth be told, he was pretty tired and thirsty himself. And they had been flying for over half an hour; he doubted the cruise ship would be able to find them now. Besides, he should be grateful she wasn't plunging in without thinking again. How much longer would Sarith be so cautious? I'll bet my tail she's back to her normal self within the hour, Tok thought wryly, following his sister down to the earth.

The closer the duo got, the more detailed the oasis grew. It expanded in size and splendor, becoming a lake as large as a city block with groves of exotic palm trees clustered around the rim. Tok and Sarith touched down in the shade of one such clump of trees, neatly folding their wings along their sides. He arched his back and stretched like a serpentine cat, while she trotted to the water's edge for a drink.

"Now this is my idea of vacation," yawned Tok, rolling onto his back. The sand was cool and comfortable in the shade, a vast relief from flying in the heat all day. He allowed his eyes to close as he relaxed. Slowly he felt his muscles unknotting, tensions ebbing away. No evil Digimon, no anyone. It was . . . peaceful.

For a moment. Then a heavy weight landed on his stomach, shooting the breath out of him. Tok gasped and shot upright.

"Lazy," laughed Sarith, a wicked twinkle in her eye. "We only get to be here a week, and you want to spend it asleep?"

"Yes!" he retorted, lying back down. "I'm tired and my wings hurt and I'm going to take a nap. Try not to get into too much trouble." Pointedly yawning, he let his head fall down to the sand and ignored her.

Sarith sniffed. "Party pooper." She turned on her heels and trotted away, leaving her brother in peace.

* * *

"I . . . I don't believe it!"

Sora didn't notice Tai had stopped until he spoke, and ended up almost walking right into him. The short-haired girl pulled up short.

"What is it?" T.K. asked.

He didn't immediately respond. Instead he fished his mini telescope out of his pocket and held it up to his eye, staring off into the distance ahead of them. The other Digi-Destined came forward to see what he was looking at.

"Why are we all standing around staring at a black dot?" demanded Mimi, tucking a strand of damp hair behind her ear. Being hot and tired, she wasn't in the best of moods.

"Because!" There was barely contained excitement in Tai's voice, and now they were all looking at him. "It's not a black dot!" he continued. "It's trees! And water!"

"Trees!" exclaimed Palmon.

"Water!" cried Gomamon.

"Let's go!" proclaimed Koromon, who had just woken up, with more vigor than he had shone for anything else since the SkullGreymon incident.

No one needed a second invitation. The group quickly picked up the pace until they were all running across the desert sand, leaving a long cloud of dust hanging in the air behind them. As they neared, Mimi's "black dot" developed into the green and blue expanse Tai had seen through his telescope. In awe—or exhaustion—the kids and their Digimon slowed at the edge of the oasis, coming to a stop just out of reach of the shade.

"It's a tropical paradise!" breathed Mimi, gazing longingly at the calm waters across the cool sand.

Matt's blue-eyed glare was suspicious. "Yeah, and a little too convenient if you ask me."

"Do you think it's a trap?" Joe gulped nervously.

"But how would Etemon know where we are?" Izzy pointed out sensibly. "Remember, we were transported far from the Koromon Village when Etemon attacked us, and at the Coliseum Sk. . . ." A glare from Tai. ". . . .Etemon's network was destroyed."

Gomamon wiggled out of his human partner's arms and dropped to the ground. "I don't care if it is a trap!" announced the white and purple Digimon. "We can worry about that later!" He would have entered, but Joe made a hasty grab for his tail to keep him in place.

Tai finished looking around and glanced down at Koromon in his arms. By the expression on his face, his little Digimon shared Mimi's sentiment of the situation. "Let's go," he agreed, and started forward.

Matt frowned. "But Tai," he objected, "what about if—"

The brown-haired boy didn't look back. "If you're so afraid Matt, you can wait in the hot sun while the rest of us take a break!"

Matt scowled but didn't say anything. Jamming his hands in his pockets, the blond followed Tai into the shade. Gabumon was right behind him. A tense, silent group of humans and Digimon came after.

The tall palm trees toward over them as the fourteen made themselves comfortable. Matt leaned against one of the trunks and slid to the ground, keeping a wary eye out as Gabumon sat down with a content sigh. Izzy plopped himself down and pulled out his ever-present laptop. Tentomon's sigh was more resigned than content. Gomamon immediately headed for the water, diving in with a splash and a happy hum. Running after him, T.K. lifted Tokomon off his hat and set him on the ground, and they both stopped at the water's edge.

"Watch this, Tokomon!" laughed the boy, picking up a small stone just under the water. He threw it at the lake and it skipped twice before falling beneath the surface. "Matt taught me how to do that," he said proudly.

"Wow!" squeaked the tiny Digimon.

Gomamon's head appeared in the water. "Hey, watch where you throw those things!"

"Oops, sorry." The two on the shore giggled quietly.

Joe took the opportunity to call hopefully to his Digimon, "Gomamon! Are there any fish in the lake?" It certainly looked big enough.

But the seal-like Digimon shook his head. "Nope. Sorry Joe. It's empty. There aren't even any water plants or anything." He stretched out on his back and floated.

The tall boy's shoulders slumped. "Then what are we going to do about food?" he moaned.

"Oh, we'll think of something," Sora spoke up cheerfully, laying on her back with her hands behind her head.

Tai carried Koromon to the edge of the lake, silently staring off across the water. His brown eyes were unfocused and far away, and the In-Training Digimon knew something was up. He poked his human friend in the side with the tip of one long ear. "Tai? Tai, what are you thinking?"

"Huh?" The boy blinked down at him and grinned a little foolishly. "Oh, sorry Koromon. I kinda spaced out there for a minute."

"Were you thinking about your home?"

He shrugged. "Some. Mostly about how to defeat Etemon, though. He's the strongest Digimon we've ever faced. I know we can beat him, but I just don't know how yet. I don't think we're strong enough right now."

"We'll think of something," insisted the Digimon. "You're the Digi-Destined after all."

That caused a chuckle. "Heh. Yeah. The Digi-Destined. Sent to banish evil Digimon, straight from some legend. . . ." As his voice trailed off Koromon looked up, and found Tai's eyes were once again gazing out over the water. But this time they were narrowed as he squinted, as if trying to make something out.

"What is it, Tai?"

"I thought . . . I saw something moving over there on the bank," the boy murmured after a moment.

"The trees?"

He shook his head. "There's no wind to move the branches. There must be something over there." Suddenly he turned around and addressed the group. Even Izzy looked up from his computer when Tai said, "I just saw something on the other side of the lake. Who wants to come with me to find out what it is?"

There was a minute of silence. Then Mimi, who had removed her boots and socks, sat down and put her feet in the water. "I'm not getting up," she informed him primly. "My feet hurt. You can go chase whatever you want without me."

Izzy was packing up his laptop, his eyes alight with curiosity. "Come on, Tentomon. I want to see what it is."

"Surprise, surprise," muttered the insect Digimon.

Sora sat up. "Are you sure we should be doing this? Maybe if we leave it alone, it'll leave us alone."

But Tai shook his head stubbornly. "We're going to be resting here for a while, probably all night," he told her, watching Joe as the tall boy searched the palm trees for coconuts. "I don't want any of Etemon's goons spying on us to make a sneak attack."

T.K. tugged on Tai's arm. "Can me and Tokomon come?" he asked in excitement.

Matt, who had been pointedly silent since the argument, immediately spoke. "No way, T.K. It's too dangerous!"

"Aww! But Matt—"

"No."

So eventually it was Tai, Sora and Izzy (along with Koromon, Biyomon and Tentomon) who set out around the rim of the lake to investigate. Tai had tried to convince Koromon to stay behind with the others because he was so weak, but the Digimon had refused. He wouldn't leave his human partner unprotected.

Soon the voices of the others faded behind them, and the groves of trees hid them from view. Izzy began theorizing on the possibility of desert Digimon, most of which went over Tai's head.

"Are you saying that all we're going to find is a digital camel?" he finally interrupted.

The short computer whiz broke off. "Not necessarily," he replied. "There are other desert animals besides camels."

"Like what?"

"Like rattlesnakes," Sora put in. She pictured a rattlesnake Digimon and shuddered, remembering Seadramon. "And scorpions too."

"Oh." Tai didn't really like the thought of that. But Biyomon and Tentomon could digi-volve to Birdramon and Kabuterimon if something attacked, and the others wouldn't be far behind if they saw a fight brewing. So what was there to worry about?

That was when the giggling began.

The six of them halted in their tracks, looking around in puzzlement. They couldn't tell where the sound was coming from. It seemed to bounce off the water to their left and the trees all around them. And it was definitely giggling, a high-pitched bubbly sound.

But before they could say or do anything, the torrent was cut off. They held their breath in the silence, ears straining. It was as if the whole Digiworld was holding its breath as well. Faintly, a conversation reached their ears.

Soft, harsh whispering.

"I couldn't help it. It was funny!" It was the voice that had been giggling.

"Shhhhh!"

"Oh, calm down. They're young; they won't hurt us. I'm coming out to say hello."

"What!?"

Tai and the others tensed as the voices stopped. Then, without further ado, one of the palm trees gave a brief shake and a green . . . something . . . dropped from the branches, landing lightly on the sand in front of them!

They stared at it. The whatever-it-was stared right back. It was about the size of Biyomon and Tentomon, mostly a minty green in color. The creature looked a lot like a lizard, except it had a pair of bat-like wings folded across its back, and pointed ears. The leathery membranes between the wing joints were golden-yellow, the same shade as a row of spines that started between its ears and traveled down the length of its back to its tail. Large, blue-green eyes with slits for pupils studied them openly. At least it had a friendly smile on its long snout, right below a little horn on its nose.

Tai was the first to speak. "What kind of Digimon is that?" the boy inquired, not taking his eyes off it.

Tentomon shook his head, mystified. "I've never seen anything like it," he commented. And coming from the Digimon that seemed to know everything about the Digiworld, that said a lot.

Everyone jumped when the creature gave a delicate little snort. "That's the second time I've been asked that today," she said in a very feminine voice, and she was indeed their giggler. "Honestly, is everything here a Digimon? Are you asked if you're Digimon, humans?"

Nobody answered her. The Digi-Destined were still in shock. She frowned and sat down on her haunches, her tail curling around her front legs. "You were all talking just a moment ago. What happened?"

"Who—what are you?" Izzy questioned curiously.

The creature beamed. "Ah, you can talk! I knew you could. My name is Sarith. A pleasure to meet you." She bowed her head a bit in a proper greeting. "Well, I suppose it is, anyway," she continued, looking thoughtful. "If you were adult humans, it might be another matter. But you're too small. You must by children."

"Just what were you doing eavesdropping on us?" demanded Koromon from Tai's arm. The little Digimon's eyes narrowed with suspicion.

Sarith fluttered her wings a bit. "Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean to. We were trying to hide from you, you see. I saw you when you spotted me across the lake." She was looking directly at Tai when she said this. "We figured you'd come after us, so we hid in the tree. But-but when you thought we were camels—" She broke off, giggling. "I couldn't help myself. Sorry." Her blue-green eyes sparkled with mirth.

Tai made several realizations upon hearing this. The first was that they couldn't possibly have come completely halfway around the lake yet, to the place where he saw the movement. So that meant Sarith was either lying about being the one who saw him or that she had been coming toward them before she hid. And the second thing. . . .

"What do you mean by 'we'?" the leader of the Digi-Destined wanted to know.

An expression of surprise passed over Sarith's features. "Oh . . . ah. Yes, I said that, didn't I? Well, uh, it's a funny story actually . . . um. . . ."

A heavy sigh rent the air, and the tree Sarith sat under shook briefly again. Down dropped another one of the weird lizard creatures, looking a lot like the first. It had the same blue-green eyes and golden-yellow wings and spines as Sarith, except this one was blue-purple instead of green, and instead of a horn on its nose it had one above each eye, in front of its ears. And it wasn't giving Sarith a very friendly look.

She grinned sheepishly. "Ah, allow me to introduce my brother, Tok."

"Just how many of you are there?" Biyomon asked. The parrot Digimon looked very intrigued with the whole situation.

The indigo-colored one of the pair looked them all up and down as he answered shortly, "Just us."

"We're on vacation," Sarith explained.

"Shhhhh! Don't say so much! How do we know we can trust them?" Tok demanded.

"How do we know we can trust you?" Tai shot back.

"In case you haven't noticed," sniffed the male creature, "we are greatly outnumbered here." Despite his words, he didn't seem alarmed in any way.

Sarith slapped his snout with the tip of her tail. "Tok! You're being unreasonable. Let's all try to get along, instead of arguing." She turned back to the six. "Say, weren't there more of you?"

"Our friends stayed behind," Sora offered, trying to prove their trust. She didn't think these two creatures looked dangerous, and she figured they could all use more allies in the Digiworld. Maybe these things knew something about defeated Etemon or getting back home! And since Sarith took the chance by telling them something, she thought they could do the same in return.

The green one grinned, as if she realized what Sora was planning. "I know!" she declared. "Why don't we go back there and we can all introduce ourselves and tell each other our stories? Then we'd get to know each other!"

Tai, Koromon, Tentomon and Tok stared at her as if she had just declared herself queen of the Digiworld. Izzy had stopped paying attention about the time Tok had appeared. Now he stood apparently lost in thought. Sora and Biyomon believed it to be a great idea, and said so.

In spite of the fact that the girls were outnumbered, everyone soon learned just how persistent females—of any species—can be. In less than ten minutes all eight of them were heading back around the lake.