Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon so please refrain from suing me for writing fan fiction. Thanks and enjoy!
The Test--Chapter 4
What is that noise? Mimi wondered to herself. It doesn't sound like any of the others. It sounds like…like a cricket or something. She was lying on something scratchy and something was lightly rubbing against her face. It was stiflingly hot and the air had a heavy quality to it, heavy with extreme humidity. And it was loud. So incredibly loud.
She opened her large, hazel eyes and sighed, still waking up from her slumber. She looked around silently for a moment, then her eyes widened and she screamed.
The scratchy surface she had been on was in fact a long, narrow branch of a jungle rainforest tree. The ground was far below her. What had been rubbing her face was a huge leaf from the tree. And the noise she heard was being emitted from an enormous bug resting on the branch with her.
"Yah!" she shrieked, sitting up as a natural reflex. The action caused her to teeter on the branch. Quickly, she grabbed onto the branch to prevent a long fall that would either injure or kill her.
The huge bug let out another long, cricket-like chirping noise and Mimi shuddered. It was grotesquely large and she couldn't help but notice its pinching mandibles working in and out. She quickly kicked it off the branch in disgust and shifted so she was lying on her stomach, arms hugged around the branch.
How did I get here? She wondered. The initial shock of awakening in a tree in the middle of a rainforest was beginning to wear off and Mimi began to wonder exactly how she would be getting out of the tree.
Tentatively, still hanging on to the limb, she inched toward the trunk of the tree. It had vines growing on it thickly, intertwining. If she hadn't been in such a dangerous position, she would have taken a bit of time to admire the beauty of the pattern, but at the moment she didn't care.
Mimi reached forward and took one of the thick vines in her hand. She pulled on it, testing to see if it would break, but it did not. Ever so carefully, gripped the vines in her hands. Slowly, she moved her right leg so it was no longer being supported by the branch, then moved her left leg to follow.
She was now dangling from only the vines. Her feet found an appropriate hold and she began a slow descent down the trunk of the huge tree. Although the vines were thick, Mimi was afraid that when she grabbed hold of one it would snap, leaving her to fall to the ground below.
As if the pressure of climbing was not enough, huge insects were flying about everywhere. A few times she even saw some type of exotic bird flying around underneath the heavy canopy of vines and leaves.
Eventually, she reached the ground and let out a sigh of relief--which quickly became a scream of horror. A colony of giant ants were marching about, crawling over the fallen logs or anything else that was in their way--which included her feet and legs.
She shuddered and quickly ran away from the group of ants before sweeping the ants that were clinging to her legs away. OK, I officially don't like this place, Mimi thought. She shuddered thinking of how she could feel the ant's legs moving against hers, how she could feel the hairs on each of its six legs prickling against her legs. It was a disgusting feeling and she hoped to never have to feel it again.
And I always thought the rainforest was nice, she thought. So far it certainly hadn't seemed nice. Mutant bugs and unbelievable humidity certainly did not bode well with Mimi Tachikawa. And another unsettling thing was the fact that numerous guttural sounds were coming from every direction.
Maybe I was safer up in the tree, she apprehensively thought. Well, I'm down now so I might as well make the best of it. Which way should I go?
Mimi considered this point for some time before realizing it really made little difference which direction she went. She figured any way she went she'd eventually come to end of the rainforest no matter which way she went.
The sound of trickling water drifted to her ears and she decided it would be best to find the source. Maybe I can follow the stream or river, she hopefully thought.
The source of the sound was surprisingly close. A muddy, slow-moving river was lazily flowing along wide, sandy banks. There wasn't an animal in sight so Mimi walked along the edge of the bank, moving in the opposite direction of the flow of the water.
Mimi felt a bit edgy. Something was definitely strange about the river. What could it be? She searched her mind, trying to place exactly what was so different about the river.
Then it hit her: it was quiet. Sure, it was still loud, but much of the noise was from a distance. Something about the river was keeping the animals away.
Mimi stopped walking and shivered despite the heat of the forest. Very quietly she nudged a rock on the sand with her toe. It rolled on the packed sand easily and slid under the dark water. For a second the river continued to flow normally, but then the waters began churning violently, frothing and bubbling.
With a gasp she stepped away from the water before her legs gave out and she sat on the ground trembling. Piranhas! She thought. The water slowly quieted as the carnivorous fish retreated back under the water.
After a few minutes, Mimi stopped trembling and she got to her feet. She had just gotten one of the harshest wake-up calls yet.
Breathlessly, Mimi wandered back into the dense jungle-like forest. She welcomed the noises that engulfed her upon re-entering, though they were raucous.
Some type of monkey chattered, birds squawked, bugs buzzed…and one sound cut through the noises…a loud, piercing roar that went from a low rumbling crescendo-ing to an ear-splitting noise, sending chills down Mimi's spine.
The roar had been directly behind her. Extremely slowly, she turned so she was able to see behind her. From behind some ferns a pair of amber eyes peered back at her, reflecting a confidence beyond that of any human. A bit of fur was visible--yellow fur with black spots.
Mimi's breath caught in her throat: a cheetah! Was her first thought. No…a jaguar!
For one instant they stood, staring each other in the eye, predator and prey. Then Mimi ran faster than she had thought she ever could have. Moments later the jaguar was leaping after her, easily weaving through the underbrush that was slowing Mimi down.
She could feel the jaguar's hot breath against her legs and gasped, terrified. With the last of her strength, she burst through a patch of reeds--and into a clearing. The jaguar did not follow her.
As Mimi recovered, a voice that seemed to have no owner calmly said: "so you have come at last."
"What? What are you talking about?"
"You have made it. Congratulations; you passed the test."
"Test? What do you mean test?"
"Finding a way out of the jungle without my pet eating you. That was the test."
Mimi furrowed her brow and inquired: "the test for what?"
"The test to enter Quewari…"
The jaguar stepped out of the bushes and Mimi gasped, backing away from the giant cat as a reflex. But then the spotted cat did something she had never expected: it bowed.
If she hadn't been so afraid, she would have laughed out loud, as the spotted jaguar knelt on its front paws. It dropped a perfect crystal at Mimi's feet and backed away, head remaining bowed.
"Excuse me? Disembodied voice, sir uh…ma'am, whatever you are?"
"Yes?" came the response.
"What exactly am I supposed to do?"
A bright, shimmering door popped up in front of her and the voice said: "go through."
Mimi shrugged and decided it would be best to just obey. With that she stepped through…