The Ivory Mountain Chapter 1
Prologue
The digi-destined were walking along the edge of the ocean near the edge of a wooded area, when suddenly Garudamon flew up behind the group and snatched T.K. Garudamon then flew away to the north and disappeared before anyone could do anything about it. Nobody knew that Sora's Biyomon was asleep in the treetop directly over them, unable to hear what happened down below. Because of this, the group began blaming Sora and yelling at her, especially Matt. Sora decided to leave the group shortly after the incident. Everyone watched as she walked into the woods, heading towards the east. Having woken up, Biyomon saw Sora leave and flew out of the tree and followed her. Only then did the others realize the truth, but it was too late.
***
They had been in the woods for a month now. They had decided to go into the woods to search for Sora, but they hadn't found her. They HAD, however, gotten completely lost.
"Tai?" Matt asked.
"What?" Tai said, distractedly.
"Where in the heck are we going?!"
"Uhhh he heh.. I don't know, for sure, but..."
"WE'RE LOST?!?! HOW COULD YOU GET US LOST! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE THE LEADER! SORA'S OUT HERE SOMWHERE, AND TK GOT KIDNAPPED BY THAT BIRD THING AND YOU GET US LOST!!!!" Matt started to grab for Tai's throat, but he saw Kari standing a few feet away.
~Oh no! I didn't want Kari to see this!~
"Uh, hello Kari." Matt said nervously.
"Whatcha doing to Tai, Matt?"
"Um, we're playing a game. That's all. Aren't we, Tai?" Matt let go of Tai and stepped backwards.
"Yeah, that's it. We're playin' a game, Kari."
"Are not. Matt's about to strangle you."
"I'm not anymore, Kari. We'll settle this later."
(That night)
Everyone was sleeping around the small fire. Everyone, that is, except Matt.
~Being on guard duty stinks~ Matt thought. ~It's boring, its scary, and there's no one to talk to. As if I cared anyway.~ He pulled out the small, red harmonica from his pocket. He began to play a slow tune. It was so sad and soft that anyone who heard it would think it was only the wind if they didn't know otherwise. ~I guess I'm just mad that we're lost. I guess I do care.~
Without realizing it, he had begun to play a little slower.
~I miss Sora. I feel really bad for yelling at her.~
He stopped playing the harmonica and stared into the woods in front of him. For a moment, he thought he saw a shadow, but decided it was the moonlight playing tricks.
~Wow, there's a lot of clouds in the sky tonight. Maybe the wind blew clouds in front of the moon and made that shadow.~
Suddenly the sky became filled with clouds. Not a single star could be seen.
~I think there's gonna be a storm soon. I really hope Sora's ok. I hope T.K.'s ok too. I'll wake the others. That's funny. That sounds like someone's crying.~
He stood up and walked around the fire, bending over to wake up the others one at a time. Mimi was the last person he got to. She was the hardest to wake up. Everyone else was awake by now.
"Mimi? Wake up now. Tai, she's still sleeping. I can't get her up."
"Hmm, funny. She's usually awake by now, complaining about the noise or her nails or something."
"MIMI!! WE'RE BEING ATTACKED BY DIVERMON!!" Matt shouted.
"AAAAAAGH!!!" Mimi bolted upright and looked around quickly. Realizing there was no real danger, she glared at Matt angrily.
"I'm sorry Mimi, but you wouldn't wake up. There's a storm coming and I want everyone to be safe from it. Even you!" he said playfully. Mimi said nothing. Instead she looked over at Joe. He had his back to her and was brushing himself off. Mimi noticed that he had missed a small brown leaf stuck in his hair.
~My, what a strange dream I had just now. Garudamon was inside this big white mountain and had Sora and T.K. with it. Biyomon was flying around it, but no one inside saw her. T.K. had this staff made of silver that was twice as tall as him, and Sora had one too. They were both wearing funny robes. They were red and silver, with ivory decorations on them. Lightning would come out of the ends of the staffs. Weird.~
"Mimi? Hello? Mimi!! We have to get out of here! The storm's gonna come." Matt had been standing in front of Mimi trying to get her attention. "Come on, quit staring at Joe. Izzy found some hollow trees close to each other. The hollows inside them are big enough for us to sleep in."
"I'll be there in a minute."
"You might want to hurry. It won't be much longer till it starts raining." Matt waited a few seconds untill Mimi stood up, then he turned and walked towards the trees. Mimi looked at Joe again, only he was looking back at her this time. He seemed slightly nervous as he walked over to her.
"We better get over there. Who are you going to share a tree with?" they began walking towards the hollow trees.
"Probably with Kari, because we're the only girls here."
"We're all gonna share a tree, two people and two digimon to a tree. Patamon will come with me." Tai said. "Let's get moving!"
***
After everyone chose a tree, they climbed in the holes in the sides and settled down to sleep. Joe, Tai, Patamon, Gomamon, and Agumon were in one tree. Mimi, Kari, Palmon, and Gatomon were in the one next to it. Matt, Izzy, Gabumon, and Tentomon were in a third. The rain started to pour down hard, and thunder could be heard nearby. Whenever the lightning flashed, it seemed like it was daylight outside. It was Joe's turn to keep watch now, but only Kari and Tai could get any sleep.
~Did I hear someone crying?~ thought Joe.
He listened closer, but the thunder was too loud to really be able to tell.
~I'll go out there and see if there's something wrong with one of the girls. I hope I don't get struck by lightning.~
Being careful not to wake Tai, he crawled out of the hole. "Gomamon, watch over everyone while I go to Mimi's tree. I'm gonna go check and see if evrythings ok." Using a large leaf for an umbrella, he stole across to Mimi's and Kari's tree.
"Is everyone all right in here?
"yeah, Joe. Why do you ask?"
"Well, I thought I heard a girl crying. Since you two are the only girls here...."
"Nope. Wasn't any of us. I thought I heard someone crying too."
"Strange." There was a long pause between the two. Then...
"Joe, come inside. You're going to get all soaked."
"Nah, I have to get back to my tree pretty soon. Tai might wake up and wonder where I am."
"Please? Pretty please? Come in here. There's something I want to tell you before you go."
"Well, all right. Could you help me up though? It's difficult getting into these blasted trees."
"Sure. Give me your hand. I'll pull you up." When she took his hand, they both looked into each others eyes and blushed. Joe dropped his leaf-umbrella. Mimi giggled softly, then pulled Joe up. He crawled on all fours just inside the entrance over to where Mimi sat. He turned so that he was sitting right beside Mimi.
"What did you want to tell me?"
"I wanted to tell you, well, um," Mimi faltered, blushing again. "It would be a lot easier to show you, Joe.
"Ok." At this, she leaned over and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Wow. I had no idea, well, I like you too!" he said laughing. He slipped his arm around her waist, and she put her arm around him. "Joe?"
"Yeah, Mimi?"
"I wanted to tell you that I love you."
"Really? I've loved you since we first met. I didn't think you'd like me back, so I never said anything." There was a long silence between them, but it was a comfortable one. They didn't need words. Together, they watched the storm light up the night sky.
Prologue
The digi-destined were walking along the edge of the ocean near the edge of a wooded area, when suddenly Garudamon flew up behind the group and snatched T.K. Garudamon then flew away to the north and disappeared before anyone could do anything about it. Nobody knew that Sora's Biyomon was asleep in the treetop directly over them, unable to hear what happened down below. Because of this, the group began blaming Sora and yelling at her, especially Matt. Sora decided to leave the group shortly after the incident. Everyone watched as she walked into the woods, heading towards the east. Having woken up, Biyomon saw Sora leave and flew out of the tree and followed her. Only then did the others realize the truth, but it was too late.
***
They had been in the woods for a month now. They had decided to go into the woods to search for Sora, but they hadn't found her. They HAD, however, gotten completely lost.
"Tai?" Matt asked.
"What?" Tai said, distractedly.
"Where in the heck are we going?!"
"Uhhh he heh.. I don't know, for sure, but..."
"WE'RE LOST?!?! HOW COULD YOU GET US LOST! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE THE LEADER! SORA'S OUT HERE SOMWHERE, AND TK GOT KIDNAPPED BY THAT BIRD THING AND YOU GET US LOST!!!!" Matt started to grab for Tai's throat, but he saw Kari standing a few feet away.
~Oh no! I didn't want Kari to see this!~
"Uh, hello Kari." Matt said nervously.
"Whatcha doing to Tai, Matt?"
"Um, we're playing a game. That's all. Aren't we, Tai?" Matt let go of Tai and stepped backwards.
"Yeah, that's it. We're playin' a game, Kari."
"Are not. Matt's about to strangle you."
"I'm not anymore, Kari. We'll settle this later."
(That night)
Everyone was sleeping around the small fire. Everyone, that is, except Matt.
~Being on guard duty stinks~ Matt thought. ~It's boring, its scary, and there's no one to talk to. As if I cared anyway.~ He pulled out the small, red harmonica from his pocket. He began to play a slow tune. It was so sad and soft that anyone who heard it would think it was only the wind if they didn't know otherwise. ~I guess I'm just mad that we're lost. I guess I do care.~
Without realizing it, he had begun to play a little slower.
~I miss Sora. I feel really bad for yelling at her.~
He stopped playing the harmonica and stared into the woods in front of him. For a moment, he thought he saw a shadow, but decided it was the moonlight playing tricks.
~Wow, there's a lot of clouds in the sky tonight. Maybe the wind blew clouds in front of the moon and made that shadow.~
Suddenly the sky became filled with clouds. Not a single star could be seen.
~I think there's gonna be a storm soon. I really hope Sora's ok. I hope T.K.'s ok too. I'll wake the others. That's funny. That sounds like someone's crying.~
He stood up and walked around the fire, bending over to wake up the others one at a time. Mimi was the last person he got to. She was the hardest to wake up. Everyone else was awake by now.
"Mimi? Wake up now. Tai, she's still sleeping. I can't get her up."
"Hmm, funny. She's usually awake by now, complaining about the noise or her nails or something."
"MIMI!! WE'RE BEING ATTACKED BY DIVERMON!!" Matt shouted.
"AAAAAAGH!!!" Mimi bolted upright and looked around quickly. Realizing there was no real danger, she glared at Matt angrily.
"I'm sorry Mimi, but you wouldn't wake up. There's a storm coming and I want everyone to be safe from it. Even you!" he said playfully. Mimi said nothing. Instead she looked over at Joe. He had his back to her and was brushing himself off. Mimi noticed that he had missed a small brown leaf stuck in his hair.
~My, what a strange dream I had just now. Garudamon was inside this big white mountain and had Sora and T.K. with it. Biyomon was flying around it, but no one inside saw her. T.K. had this staff made of silver that was twice as tall as him, and Sora had one too. They were both wearing funny robes. They were red and silver, with ivory decorations on them. Lightning would come out of the ends of the staffs. Weird.~
"Mimi? Hello? Mimi!! We have to get out of here! The storm's gonna come." Matt had been standing in front of Mimi trying to get her attention. "Come on, quit staring at Joe. Izzy found some hollow trees close to each other. The hollows inside them are big enough for us to sleep in."
"I'll be there in a minute."
"You might want to hurry. It won't be much longer till it starts raining." Matt waited a few seconds untill Mimi stood up, then he turned and walked towards the trees. Mimi looked at Joe again, only he was looking back at her this time. He seemed slightly nervous as he walked over to her.
"We better get over there. Who are you going to share a tree with?" they began walking towards the hollow trees.
"Probably with Kari, because we're the only girls here."
"We're all gonna share a tree, two people and two digimon to a tree. Patamon will come with me." Tai said. "Let's get moving!"
***
After everyone chose a tree, they climbed in the holes in the sides and settled down to sleep. Joe, Tai, Patamon, Gomamon, and Agumon were in one tree. Mimi, Kari, Palmon, and Gatomon were in the one next to it. Matt, Izzy, Gabumon, and Tentomon were in a third. The rain started to pour down hard, and thunder could be heard nearby. Whenever the lightning flashed, it seemed like it was daylight outside. It was Joe's turn to keep watch now, but only Kari and Tai could get any sleep.
~Did I hear someone crying?~ thought Joe.
He listened closer, but the thunder was too loud to really be able to tell.
~I'll go out there and see if there's something wrong with one of the girls. I hope I don't get struck by lightning.~
Being careful not to wake Tai, he crawled out of the hole. "Gomamon, watch over everyone while I go to Mimi's tree. I'm gonna go check and see if evrythings ok." Using a large leaf for an umbrella, he stole across to Mimi's and Kari's tree.
"Is everyone all right in here?
"yeah, Joe. Why do you ask?"
"Well, I thought I heard a girl crying. Since you two are the only girls here...."
"Nope. Wasn't any of us. I thought I heard someone crying too."
"Strange." There was a long pause between the two. Then...
"Joe, come inside. You're going to get all soaked."
"Nah, I have to get back to my tree pretty soon. Tai might wake up and wonder where I am."
"Please? Pretty please? Come in here. There's something I want to tell you before you go."
"Well, all right. Could you help me up though? It's difficult getting into these blasted trees."
"Sure. Give me your hand. I'll pull you up." When she took his hand, they both looked into each others eyes and blushed. Joe dropped his leaf-umbrella. Mimi giggled softly, then pulled Joe up. He crawled on all fours just inside the entrance over to where Mimi sat. He turned so that he was sitting right beside Mimi.
"What did you want to tell me?"
"I wanted to tell you, well, um," Mimi faltered, blushing again. "It would be a lot easier to show you, Joe.
"Ok." At this, she leaned over and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Wow. I had no idea, well, I like you too!" he said laughing. He slipped his arm around her waist, and she put her arm around him. "Joe?"
"Yeah, Mimi?"
"I wanted to tell you that I love you."
"Really? I've loved you since we first met. I didn't think you'd like me back, so I never said anything." There was a long silence between them, but it was a comfortable one. They didn't need words. Together, they watched the storm light up the night sky.