Author's Note:

Chapter two is now here. It's finally starting to speed up, or at least isn't as dull and action-less as the last one. Mostly Davis focused but with a nice and welcome guest coming in.

Enjoy~

Chapter Two: Davis in Wonderland

Davis waited impatiently. Again, he was only half listening to what he was being told. Instead, the candidate's eyes and attention were more closely focused on the strange group of people he'd been called to meet. Today was his test and apparently these, er… people (?), and were the overseers.

The first and also the one currently outlining what the test would be about – though Davis had heard it all before from the older kids - was an old man. Really old man. Ancient old man. He was short too, not quite reaching Davis' own shoulder height. Any hair he had on his head was pulled up into a tie and a mustache settled on his lip. The elder dressed in unique darkly colored robes. It was the two quiet guys behind the old man that really stole Davis' attention.

It, sorry he, was a little round thing no bigger than a softball. Two little feet with claws and two arms protruded from the ball, along with a set off white wings. His feet were protected by a few belts wrapped around them and he carried a spear in hand. Head to toe the Digimon was covered in short, coarse, pink fur that became beige around the face.

The last and most commanding presence was held by the large guy in the back. A centaur. That was the only real way to describe it. The upper body was that of a well built and dark skinned human man, while the lower half became that of a horse. The head was topped by a Romanesque helm and his right hand was a sort of canon-like object with his left shoulder bearing a shoulder-guard.

Gennai, Piximon, and Centarumon if Davis remembered correctly.

"…and at the end of three days the gate will be reopened for you and your partner to pass through. Any questions?" Gennai finished, watching the candidate through squinted eyelids.

"Huh?" Davis blinked a few times before it registered that Gennai had stopped speaking. "Uh no! Got it." He grinned and nodded. "I'm totally ready to go!"

Gennai chuckled, arms folded behind his back. He stepped away and gestured Davis towards the computer sitting on the desk. "Then just step up to the gate. Good luck to you."

Davis followed the instructions. He looked back at Gennai gesturing at the computer monitor. "Wait, okay now I have a question. What am I supposed to do with this-WHAAA!" The bright light from the computer died down. Davis, on the other hand, had vanished as well.

Piximon snorted, folding his arms and shaking his head. "Another rash one. This can't end well."

The larger Digimon turned his gaze down. "Do you think so?" Centarumon asked. "I believe he had a fair shot. What are your thoughts, Gennai?"

The digital humanoid merely chuckled softly. "For now, we'll have to wait and see. Who knows? Those goggles seem to bring the kids good luck."

The gentle, artificial, glow of the television screen lit up foliage around it. Any sense of calm and peace were swiftly shattered by the loud yelp that broke their air. Davis fell free of the portal. He hadn't been prepared for the landing and ended up tripping over his own two feet. Davis spluttered as he pushed his upper body off the ground and spat. Chunks of dirt that had been inserted in his mouth on impact with the ground splattered back on the forest floor. The foul taste lingered in Davis' mouth as he continued to spit for a moment before he gathered his wits.

The Digital World.

Davis raised his chocolate brown eyes from the ground and was instantaneously assaulted by a vast array of bright and saturated colors. The Digital World may have resembled the Real World in a few ways, but in many more it shined uniquely. The forest Davis found himself in was beautiful. Trees stretched into sky, branches rose towards the sun, far higher than any Earth tree could reach. The floor of the forest was littered with bushes and flowers ranging from small bushes with red leaves, to tall, flowing, sets of plants with white petals.

There was only one word to accurately portray the candidate's first impression of this world.

"Whoa."

Davis picked himself up as he kept looking around himself. It was amazing. It was like something out of a fantasy role playing game, though Davis was more into the shooters, and kept him captivated. This place was nothing like the room Davis had just been in, yet still he was standing here. It was hard to imagine that this world ran right alongside the one he was used to.

"Okay, Davis, you know what to do." Davis muttered to himself. "Tai and everyone helped you prepare and there's no way you're gonna fail this. First, you need to find a place to set up camp before it gets dark. Second, quit talking to yourself." he added with a light smirk of amusement.

His sneakers crunched against the dirt as he chose a direction and headed off. Peaceful was the word for it. A walk in the park, so to speak. Davis' head slowly turned around as he walked, absorbing everything. A soft breeze rustled the leaves in the trees and he could also hear, and even spotted a few, small birds. So far there were no horrible monsters out for his blood. A grin began to climb its way onto Davis' face. He and the other candidates had been worried over nothing!

The path Davis chose brought him to a lake. A small beach area was set up along the water's edge. At the center of the lake a small barren island sat, connected to the main land by a narrow bridge of earth. Davis did a double take, then squinted his eyes. Sure enough, a tram car was sitting on the island. It looked to be in perfect condition.

"Oookay, because that's not weird at all." He raised his brow at the very out of place sight. "Wonder if this entire place has weird stuff like that around?"

No point in not taking a quick little jaunt over to investigate. Davis slowed his jog as he came up to the tram car. The door was open so he had no problem getting inside. Empty. Davis's finger tips brushed the seats as he carefully explored around. It was at the back that he found anything remarkably interesting. The sight brought a wide grin to his face. Etched into the metal wall were names. Matt Ishida. Tai Kamiya. JP Shibayama. Sora Takenouchi. Henry Wong. Along with several others. Left on the back seat was a sharp stone with an edge perfect for scratching out characters.

Davis, naturally, scooped it up and found an untouched section of the wall. His tongue poked out as he carefully etched out the characters that made up his name. Davis Motomiya. The boy nodded in approval.

The seats were rather comfy Davis decided as he sat back. His gaze drifted out the window as he thought of his plan of action. Fire and food. Tai had made sure to stress those two things along with finding shelter. The bus was rather comfy and with the sun heading towards the horizon as it was, Davis figured it would be a good place to set up for his first night.

First: wood. The place was a forest. Easy enough to gather a decent amount of wood for a fire. Davis left the set up near the tram car before setting his sights on the second task: food. Davis definitely wanted to have something to eat before the sun went down. He was right on a lake, so he reserved fishing for when he got back. For now, Davis scoured the foliage, searching for a tree or bush that would produce some fruit.

The tree he spotted was perfect. Its trunk was wide and stretched high into the sky. The branches hung low enough it would be easy to climb. Most importantly, however, its branches were thick with healthy green leaves and bright, juicy looking, pink fruit.

"Jackpot!" Davis grinned. He broke into a run, taking a running jump to grab a branch and pull himself up. The hem of Davis' shirt was pulled out and used to basket the fruit he collected. When he couldn't carry any more, the goggle head got up and carefully started picking his way down the tree. He tossed a piece of fruit up and down on his way back to the tram car before taking a bite out of it. Sweet juices ran down Davis' chin of which he used his sleeve to wipe away. It was surprisingly good.

Davis had made it roughly half way back to his chosen camp site for the night when he spotted it. His first monster was sprawled on the ground directly in his path. It looked like some whacked out rhino-triceratops fusion. Its body was mostly an off white grey color with the top half of the body covered by thick black armored plating. A single horn protruded from the monsters nose. Davis nodded to himself. Probably best not to disturb something a good deal bigger then he was. So, Davis began to pick his way away from the large Digimon, giving it plenty of room. Walking around it, however, didn't stop Davis' foot from colliding with a stone. The rock shot forward and collided with the base of a tree, giving off good thunk.

The human froze. A grunt came from his left where the monster was laying. Ever so slowly, Davis turned his head towards the monster. It was up and it was displeased. Teeth were barred and its head had been lowered to the ground as it got to its feet. One of the forelegs pawed the ground in a classic charging position. Now, what was it Tentomon had said once? Some Digimon could be extremely territorial?

The fruit bounced on the forest floor as Davis took off. The rhino Digimon roared, the sound echoing in the air, and took off after Davis. In the back of his mind, Davis was grateful for his passion for soccer. He ducked around trees and bushes. When Davis broke into a clearing in the forest he turned and took a glance back over his shoulder. The monster crashed out of the tree line after him. Unlike the smaller, weaker, human, the rhino Digimon was running straight, trusting its strength to simply knock the obstacles out of the way.

A crackling sound reached Davis' ears and he darted left and back into the trees. He couldn't resist looking back, only for his speed to falter as his jaw dropped.

"That thing breaths fire?"

The monster took a wider turn, slowing down a fraction to make the turn and follow Davis. The teen turned his attention forward, bringing his speed back up. He didn't even take the time to stop and wonder about the rather random vending machines in the middle of the forest.

"This sucks, this sucks, this sucks!" Davis shouted, pumping his legs. Branches snapped and cut across his exposed skin. The roar of the Digimon, he would later remember it's species to be called Monochromon, not far behind him.

There! Davis' eyes caught a cliffside rising towards the skyline. He cut another quick turn, using a tree to help make the turn quicker, and bolted for where the rock formation produced a cave. Davis ducked inside. He pressed his back to the rocks and covered his mouth to try and still his rapid and frantic breathing. Davis tried to swallow his fear and keep it down. Loud, earth shaking, thuds of the Monochromon's feet on the earth showed he wasn't far behind. With no way of accurately telling the time, Davis had pressed his back further into the rock and waited. Finally, it had felt like an eternity to Davis, the Monochromon gave up and walked off.

The adrenaline drained from Davis' system. His shaking legs gave out under him and he sunk to the ground. Davis sat there for a good while until he could will himself to calm down.

The cave stretched further in. Davis cast a glance back outside. It wasn't unreasonable to think the Monochromon was still somewhere close by out there… Cave it was. Davis kept a hand on the wall, running his fingers along the stone as he headed further inside the cave. Curiously, even further in the cave it was still fairly well lit and easy to see; Davis chalked that up as being just another strange phenomenon of the Digital World itself. The cave stopped at the back, expanding into a circular shaped room with a high ceiling. Centered in the room was a mound of dirt and the oddest thing Davis had seen yet. It was a small cube-ish thing made of metal. It seemed to emit its own, golden, glowing light that bathed the chamber.

"Wow, that's some night-light." Davis murmured.

He stepped up to the oddly formed thing. Curiosity got the better of him and Davis found himself walking around to see it from all angles before he started prodding at it with a finger. His hands slid around it, cupping the item between them, and Davis pulled. It came easily, its weight in his hands feeling practically like air. The object in his hand was quickly brushed aside when Davis' attention was drawn to the pillar of light that had sprung up from where the object had been sitting.

Within the pillar something or another began to take shape. Davis squinted his eyes against the golden light, but couldn't make it out. Not that it mattered really, because the creature's first action on leaving the light was to throw itself at Davis.

"You're finally here!"

The creature's arms wrapped around Davis. The teen hadn't been expecting that sort of thing at all and with a yelp fell backwards, hitting the ground with the excited monster on top of him.

"Hiya! I'm Veemon, but you can call me Veemon! What's your name?" The little dragon Digimon spoke with a lisp to his words. Despite the fear the Monochromon monster had brought to Davis, the lisp and the two big red eyes beaming down at him made it rather hard to be even a little scared or worried. The dragon was mostly a light blue in color with his muzzle and belly scales white. His tail was wagging like a dog's might in the Real World and the two large ears on his head were upright.

"I'm uh… Davis. Hi." Davis replied, blinking a few times. "Do ya mind getting off me?"

"Huh?" One of the ears tipped up before Veemon seemed to realize he'd tackled his new friend to the ground. "Oops! Haha, sorry!" He hopped off, rubbing the back of his head. Veemon thrust a hand out towards Davis. The human accepted, letting Veemon pull him up into a sitting position and, thus, approximately leaving them leveled as far as height went. Veemon grinned brightly. "Nice to meet ya, Davis!"

"Yeah, same here, Veemon." Davis mirrored the bright grin with one of his own. At first, he'd been wondering how he would even know which Digimon was his partner. That had cleared up the moment he'd seen the little blue guy. He just knew.

Davis picked himself up on his feet before he took notice of the device in his hand. The golden object had formed itself into a Digivice, just like the ones the older knights possessed. Davis, impossibly, grinned brighter and clipped the device to his belt before he held a hand out for Veemon. "Okay, Veemon. Whatta ya say? We're partners?"

The dragon Digimon took his hand and nodded. "Was there any doubt about it?"

"Great!" Davis stood upright and pumped a fist. "Let's go then, I wanna get back to camp before the sun goes down."

"Sounds like a plan, Davis." Veemon agreed. He settled himself right at Davis' side as they exited the cave. He tilted his head to the side when he noticed Davis glancing around cautiously at the cave's mouth. "Something up?"

"Huh? No no, it's all cool." Davis waved a hand with a reassuring smile. "It was this way, c'mon." He glanced down at his new partner. Veemon's tail kept thumping lightly against Davis' leg as it swayed back and forth. "So, what were you doing under that thing?" He still had a few days, plenty of time to get to know his own Digimon before going home.

The response didn't require any thought at all. "Waiting for you." Veemon smiled. "And now you finally came."

Davis' laugh was cut short by a snarl. Both human and Digimon looked up to see a still very annoyed Monochromon. The bigger monster opened its maw. Instincts kicked in and Veemon's hand curled around Davis' own and pulled. "Run!" Not a moment after they were moving did the ground where they had been standing go up in flames. As they picked up speed, Davis was soon the one pulling Veemon along, the Digimon's much shorter legs giving him a hard time keeping up.

"Doesn't this guy ever quit?" Davis shouted. For a third time now, a ball of flame whizzed by him.

"What'd you do to make him so mad?" Veemon asked, glancing back over his shoulder at the charging Champion level Digimon.

Davis cracked a meek grin. "Would you believe 'nothing'?"

"Not really." The dragon grinned back up at his human. Despite the danger, he couldn't help the elation of finally meeting his partner. The heat of flames licked behind them and Veemon tackled Davis into the ground. The pair rolled down a drop in the landscapes formation and hit the ground side by side.

A moan eased itself from Davis' lips. He pushed himself up into a sitting position and shook his head. To his utter dismay, his square shaped goggles were in pieces. The tumbling fall had cracked the lenses and snapped the worn band that held them on his head. A small cut opened the skin on Davis' forehead, no doubt where the goggles had stopped his head colliding with a rock on the way down.

"Davis! Are you okay?" Veemon hovered over him, ears tipped down a fraction.

It was Monochromon's roar that jolted Davis back into action. The broken goggles were abandoned on the ground while Davis grabbed Veemon's hand as he started running again. "Fine! Let's go!" They were almost back to where the tram car was Davis was sure only… A sight up ahead caused the human to skid to a quick stop, yanking Veemon back so the dragon Digimon didn't keep running passed him.

Veemon let out a yelp as his arm, the one with his hand connected to Davis, was jerked back. Cliff. A river rushing by at its base. Monochromon let out a roar. Another Volcanic Strike attack brewed before firing off at them. "Jump!" Veemon instructed.

"What?" Davis looked down at the dragon like he was nuts.

No time to second guess the course of action. Veemon jumped and pulled Davis with him. Davis flailed his limbs, screaming all the way down. The scorching heat of Monochromon's special attack passed harmless above them. The rhino monster didn't bother trying to follow them down.

Davis coughed, spluttering water out of his lungs as he pulled himself up on to the river bank with Veemon. The pair flopped side by side, sprawled out and soaking wet. What then started as a light chuckle developed into the two sharing in full blown laughter.

"Man! What a rush!" Davis said when finally his breath caught up to him.

"Yeah!" Veemon settled down shortly after. He smiled, head cocked to the side, as he gazed up at his partner. "So, this is gonna be a common thing for us?"

"Probably."

"Awesome!"

The pair made their way back to the tram car shortly after the sun set in the distance. They sat around the fire for a little while before heading inside the tram car to get some sleep.

Davis gave a wide yawn. All the running had really worn him out and he was starving too. First thing tomorrow they would find some food. A small shift in his lap brought his attention to the little blue monster. A fond smile graced Davis' lips. The little guy sure was brave. Pretty adorable too… ya know… if you were a girl who thought about that sort of thing. Davis hadn't even thought about sleeping arrangements, Veemon had simply flopped down in his partners lap and got comfy before he was knocked out like a light. It felt… right. Suddenly, the thought of never coming here seemed like a horrible plan. Davis adjusted his position to get a little more comfortable on the seats. He reached out, wrapping an arm around Veemon before shutting his eyes.

Two more days out here? No problem. At least he wouldn't be alone any more.