"Come on Chris, wake up!" Ryu said. Chris lied there for a few more minutes. "Don't make me force you to get up." Ryu threatened. "Alright, alright I'm up!" Chris said as he sat up rubbing his eyes. "Finally, we've already wasted half the day." Ryu said as Chris got off the ground and stretched. "It's not like we have anything to do anyway." Chris said. "Well you don't need to be sleeping all day." Ryu argued back. "Then why don't you suggest what we do this morning." Chris said. Ryu started to think. "Well?" Chris said impatiently. "I say we go find some breakfast." Ryu said. "Now you're talking" Chris said, "Last one to the lake has to get the firewood tonight. GO!" Chris took off running towards the lake. "Hey, no fair!" Ryu said as he chased after him.
The tow arrived at the lake, exhausted form their race. "Ha, I win" Chris said as he collapsed on the shore. "You cheated" Ryu said catching his breath, "You got a head start." Chris crawled closer to the lake and dipped his head in the water for a drink. "How's the water Chris?" Ryu asked. "Nice and cold" Chris said while standing back up.
"Ok, just wondering" Ryu said. Ryu ran at Chris and pushed him into the lake. "What the hack is wrong with you!" Chris screamed as he started to shiver. "Nothing like a morning swim after a race, eh?" Ryu asked as he started to laugh. "You just wait until I get out of the water" Chris said. Chris walked back onto the shore and began to chase Ryu. "Come on Chris, it was just a joke!" Ryu said running away from Chris. "Come here, I'll show you a joke!" Chris said. "Well you're going to have to run faster to catch me" Ryu said.
Still running, Ryu ran deeper and deeper into the forest trying to avoid Chris. Chris started to catch up to Ryu. He was barely touching his tail when he leaped forward and tackled Ryu to the ground. "Fast enough for you?" Chris mocked. "Very funny" Ryu said, "Now get off of me!" Chris got up off of Ryu and started laughing. Ryu got up and looked around. "Hey Chris, do remember this part of the forest?" Ryu asked. Chris looked around as well. "Come to think of it, I don't think I do." Chris said. "Maybe we should turn back Chris" Ryu said. "Shh, what was that?" Chris said, "It sounds like… voices." Chris crept forward and peered through the bushes. A group of humans armed with torches, spears and ropes were traveling through the forest. "Humans?" Chris said, "What are humans doing in the forest?" Suddenly, Ryu tackled Chris into the bushes. "Ryu, now is not the time for horseplay!" Chris said. "Shh!" Ryu said as a second group of humans walked right in front of them.
"Their tracks stop here" one of the humans said. "Why are we even out here?" another one complained. "You heard the boss, we have to catch and kill every digimon we encounter" the apparent leader of the group said. "But it's been hours and we haven't even seen one all day" someone yelled out. "We will keep going until night fall, now move out!" the leader commanded. The group left the area. All was quiet.
"Chris, we have to get out of here" Ryu said in terror. Chris looked down and saw Ryu clenched to his arm in fear. "Don't worry Ryu, I won't let them hurt you" Chris said, trying to comfort Ryu. Chris stuck his head out of the bushes. "The coast is clear, let's go" Chris whispered. The two silently ran out of the bushes. They ran all the way to the forest edge. "Were almost out of here" Chris said. But as soon as they stepped out onto the beach, one of the two groups spotted them. "Ryu run!" Chris said. The two ran back into the forest only to be stopped by the other group. They turned around and ran back to the beach. Quickly the two groups formed a circle around the two digimon. Ryu ducked behind Chris and started to cry. "Ryu, stand up and fight for yourself!" Chris yelled. Ryu got up and stood back to back with Chris. The humans took some rope and lassoed Chris around the arms and mouth. "Chris!" Ryu yelled. He tried to help Chris out of the rope, but the humans on the other side threw ropes around him as well. "I'm sorry Chris" Ryu said as he was dragged off.
As the humans finished tying Chris and Ryu together, the leader stepped into the circle to see what the others have caught. "Our first catches of the day" the leader said. "What do you want from us, we didn't do anything to you or your kind!" Chris said. "I am just simply following orders" the leader said back. He then unsheathed his sword and pointed it at the tip of Chris's nose. "Any last words before you die" he asked, "No? Then farewell." As the man lifted his sword into the air, a loud howl was let out in the forest. "What was that?" someone in the group asked. Out of the woods walked a Garurumon. "Ahh, another one" the leader said lowering his sword, "Capture that beast!" the leader commanded. All the humans went after the wolf. "I'll be back to tend to you two in a moment" the leader walked off to help his men. The Garurumon violently attacked everyone that tried to capture her. After seeing his men being beaten, the leader ordered a retreat.
After everyone ran away, the lone wolf slowly walked up to the two Guilmon tied up on the ground. "Please don't kill us!" Ryu said as he franticly tried to escape. The Garurumon walked up to Chris first. "Great, first we're captured by humans and now we're going to get eaten by some other digimon" Chris yelled. The Garurumon raised her paw high in the air. Chris tightly closed his eyes, awaiting his death. Then a loud snap was heard as Garurumon sliced through the ropes. "Your, your letting us go?" Chris asked in astonishment. Garurumon glared at him. "I wasn't going to eat you. Not now anyway." Chris want silent at her response. Garurumon then freed Ryu. "Thank you for saving us" Ryu said as he got up.
"Well if you to are ok, I must be off" Garurumon said. "Wait, you saved our lives. We have to repay you some how" Ryu said walking in front of Garurumon. "I don't need anything thank you" Garurumon said as she evaded Ryu and continued towards the forest. "Well, we're going to have to follow you until we have returned the favor" Ryu said as he started to follow Garurumon. "Ryu, we can't just follow some random digimon we run into" Chris said. Garurumon was quietly listening in on their conversation. "You know we have to repay her somehow" Ryu said. Chris didn't say anything and stormed off behind Garurumon. Ryu smiled and walked off to. "You may follow me if you like, but I told you I do not need anything" Garurumon said. "By the way, my name is Ryu and his name is Chris" Ryu said, catching up to Garurumon. "My name is Sakura" Garurumon said as the three entered the forest.
Sakura, Ryu and Chris continued through the forest for two hours. "I'm hungry Chris, when are we going to get some food?" Ryu asked. "Well, if someone didn't push me into the lake, we would have had something bye now" Chris replied. "Oh yeah, that was funny" Ryu said as he started to giggle. "Shut up Ryu" Chris said. "Do you two ever stop fighting?" Sakura asked, shaking her head. "We get into a couple of disagreements every so often" Chris replied. The sun was starting to descend as the three continued. "Maybe we should get some firewood and camp out here for the night" Ryu said, "I'll go find some." Ryu walked off deeper into the woods. "Well I'll go find something for us to eat" Chris said, "Do you want anything special Sakura?" "Anything is fine" she said as she laid down next to a tree. "Ok, I'll be back in a while" Chris said as he walked off. Sakura laid there for a couple of minutes, listening to the silence around her. The wind was whipping through the trees. Suddenly, there was a rustle in the leaves. Sakura jumped up. "Who is in there? Show yourself!" Sakura demanded. A Shurimon jumped down from the branches in the tree. "I am sorry to have disturbed you, I was merely taking a nap when I heard you and your friend" the Shurimon said.
Meanwhile, Chris was gathering fruits from trees, when he heard some noises coming from the distance. "Hey, that sounds like a fight" Chris said as he followed the sounds. When he found the source of the sound, he dropped the food and stared in shock. There was Ryu, half dead under the foot of a Kuwagamon. "Leave him alone!" Chris said as he shot a fireball at Kuwagamon. The attack hit dead on, but proved to be ineffective. The Kuwagamon laughed and picked up Ryu by the throat. "After I finish devouring your friend here, I'm going to come after you" Kuwagamon said as he continued to laugh. "Chris" Ryu started to say in a beat up voice, "Run away." "Who told you to talk?" Kuwagamon said as he slammed Ryu down to the ground. Ryu let out a scream of pain. Chris's blood began to boil. The hazard symbol on his chest began to flash. Ryu looked at Chris before passing out to see what was happening. Chris let out a roar as his entire body began to glow. The glowing silhouette of Chris began to change form. "What's going on?" Kuwagamon asked as he let go of Ryu. When the light dissipated, Chris's body had changed from a Guilmon, to a Growlmon. Kuwagamon was paralyzed with fear. Like lightning, Chris shot forward towards Kuwagamon and thrust his claws through Kuwagamon's body, killing him instantly. Chris removed his claws from his impaled foe and threw his body to the side. As he looked down at Ryu, tears filled his eyes. Chris knelt down, picked up Ryu's beaten body, and slowly carried him to where Sakura was waiting for them to return.
As Chris came into sight, Sakura didn't recognize him at first. But when she saw Ryu, she quickly sprang up and ran to his side. "What happened?!" Sakura asked. Chris walked by her and leaned Ryu up against a tree. "He was attacked by a Kuwagamon" Chris said, wiping tears from his eyes. He then told her the whole story. "That's awful" Sakura said, looking down at Ryu, "I'm afraid it looks like he doesn't have much longer." "Maybe I can help" the Shurimon said as she walked up to Ryu. "Oh, Chris I forgot to introduce you. This is Shurimon. She came out of a tree while you were gone" Sakura said. "How can you help" Chris asked, fighting back tears. Shurimon stretched her arms over Ryu. A white powder fell on Ryu's skin and made him glow. When the glowing stopped, Chris was amazed to see all of Ryu's cuts and bruises were gone. Ryu slowly opened his eyes and looked at Chris. "Chris, where am I" he asked. Tears welt up in Chris's eyes. "Your ok Ryu, just go to sleep. Thank you Shurimon" Chris said. "Your welcome" Shurimon said as she collapsed on the ground. "Are you ok" Chris asked. "I'm just a little woozy. I used a lot of energy" She replied. "Well, I insist that you stay the night here. It's the least we can do since you saved my friends life" Chris said. "If you insist, thank you" Shurimon said. Everyone laid down against the tree and started to sleep.
The whole night, while everyone was asleep, Chris kept tossing and turning. He couldn't stop replaying what happened to Ryu in his head. Finally, his nightmare was ended by the rising of the sun. He sat up to find Ryu was gone. He quickly jumped up and started looking around. He was relieved to find Ryu sitting in front of a berry bush, munching on berries. "I'm glad to see your ok" Chris said as he walked up and sat down next to Ryu. "Thanks for saving me yesterday Chris. You were right, I should have been more careful. Its horrible to think what would have happened if you didn't show up and save me" Ryu said. "Well, it wasn't just me. I saved you from Kuwagamon, but if it wasn't for Shurimon, you wouldn't have survived much longer" Chris said while stuffing his mouth full of berries.