Chapter 3: How You Remind Me
"The wind here smells pretty sweet…" I mumbled to myself as I rushed through the high sky air.
All of a sudden I heard beeping, and an electric shock rippled through me. I let out a yell and tumbled out of the air, slamming into the ground. As soon as I was out of Digimon form, I pulled out my D-Tector.
"Attention, go to the Forest Terminal immediately."
"…That's why you knocked me out of the frickin' sky? How am I supposed to find this place…?" I looked on down the tracks. I saw a few outlines of what I assumed were Digimon, but then I heard Zoe's high pitched voice, and figured it was worse. I sighed when I saw her and Takuya waving at me, and realized they were talking to me.
I tried to ignore them, and kept walking along the tracks. But, my plan kinda went down the drain after I noticed that they were just standing there, waiting for me to 'catch up'. I growled and glowered at them, but they didn't notice, and just kept on calling out to me and trying to wave me over.
When I saw that there really wasn't any way to avoid them, I kept walking until I got to them.
They just stood there smiling and staring at me for a good part of the day. I looked back and forth at them both before asking, "What the heck are you staring at me for?"
Takuya just kept smiling and said, "Hiya buuudddyyy!"
I shook my head and pushed past them.
"What's her problem?" Zoe questioned Takuya.
"I don't know. Maybe she just needs a hug…Hey Toshiku! Come here for a minute!" Takuya ran up to me, and before I could react, wrapped me up in a bear hug.
I growled. "Takuya! I don't want you to hug me!"
"I beg to differ!" Takuya chimed. "See how happy you're getting already?"
"If my right arm wasn't so numb and I could actually feel the ground, I would punch you." I mumbled, scowling at him.
Takuya smiled and said, still not letting go, "You're funny, you wouldn't do that."
"Wanna bet?"
He set me back down on the ground and said, "Okay. See? You're happy!"
I started walking away from him as I replied, "Whatever floats your boat and keeps you from hugging me."
"You want another one?"
"NO!"
"Sheesh, touchy."
"Hey guys, look down there." JP said, pointing down over the edge of a cliff.
I glanced at the train tracks. They stopped at the edge of the cliff, but they continued on the other side. The bridge piece connecting them was missing.
"Looks like there's a village down there." Takuya added.
"And that trail looks like it could lead down to it." JP pointed on the other side of the canyon over at it.
"…Am I the only one that sees that it's over there? Not over here where we can get to it?" I asked, crossing my arms out in front of me. "And am I the only one who's really warm?"
"I think it's cold." Zoe answered, all of them already on their way down the side of the wall of rock.
"Hmph." I didn't feel any form of cold around me. "This just keeps getting weirder…" I moved forward and followed them down to the bottom.
We got to the bottom, but saw none of the lights JP had pointed out. I moved across the small river cutting the canyon into two, Takuya and Tommy right after me.
I felt a tugging on my shirt as Tommy came up to me and mumbled, "Uhh, Toshiku…?" He pointed over to the wall.
I looked over at it, expecting it to be next to nothing, but what I saw unnerved me more than I'd thought possible. Lucemon.
"What is that?" Takuya asked, staring up at the carved symbols next to Lucemon.
"Kind of pretty…" Zoe commented.
"Pretty?" Bokomon scoffed. "Pretty she says. These are the marks of the legendary warriors."
"Legendary warriors?" Everyone repeated.
"Hm, I've never heard of them." Neemon, the yellow guy, told Bokomon.
"What? Of course you've heard of them. They were the first things we learned about in Digital World History."
At first everything was silent. Then Neemon answered, "I must've been sick that day, but they sure are pretty!"
Bokomon groaned because of the stupidity of his yellow companion, and then began to speak. "In ancient times, there were terrible wars between humanoid Digimon and beast Digimon for control of the Digital world. One day, an angel Digimon called Lucemon appeared. He taught them how to resolve their differences and live in peace. And the fighting stopped.
"Lucemon was a wise, kind ruler, but the peace in the Digital world was short lived. Lucemon, obsessed with his power, began to torment the peace-loving Digimon until they could take no more.
"It was then that the brave warriors rose up against him, and after a fierce battle defeated Lucemon, restoring the peace. The legend says that the spirits of these Digimon will one day rise again in times of trouble."
"Read it to me again." Neemon told Bokomon. I wasn't sure if he'd just zoned out the first time, or if he just wanted to hear it again to annoy Bokomon.
"Um, no." Bokomon told him, returning the book to the pink band around his waist.
"I know that symbol." Tommy said, pointing to one at the top.
"That was the same symbol we saw when Takuya turned into Agunimon." Zoe finished for him.
"And that mark next to it is the one that was one Koji's shoulder when he turning into Lobomon." Tommy said. Then he turned and pointed to another one. "And then that one is the mark that Toshiku had when she was Raveamon."
"I wonder if I'll be next. Oh, I hope my Digimon's cute." Zoe chimed, making me want to gag.
"I wanna be like the biggest, scariest Digimon ever!" Tommy exclaimed, following Zoe's lead.
"Unlikely shorty." JP mumbled to him. "I mean it's not like we'll all get to be Digimon."
"Hm, there are five of us, six including Koji. If all of us have one, then that leaves three others. Now, tell me how some of us wouldn't be able to spirit-evolve." I scowled at JP for making the statement that he had, and I hoped the question stumped him.
He glared over at me. "You wouldn't understand if I explained. You're just too stupid."
I flared and popped him one in the face. "I'll show you stupid!"
"Yes! Show them all what power you have! Let them behold your strength!"
"No, Toshiku." I felt Zoe's hand on my shoulder. If she was trying to refrain me, she would have to do more than just prod my shoulder. "Don't hurt him."
"Fine." I growled at Zoe before turning to walk away from them. But I stopped short and looked back at JP. "You remind me of Lucemon."
"How would you know?!" JP shouted after me.
"Uh, guys? We've got company." Takuya said, turning around as the lights reappeared.
"Ooo! Company! Are we having a party Bokomon?" Neemon asked, suddenly very happy.
I heard Bokomon snap Neemon's waist band again as I turned to see the company Takuya had been talking about. A bunch of walking—actually hopping and floating—and talking candle Digimon moved over to us.
One—presumably the leader—that had a mustache addressed us, "Why have you humans come to our village? You are not welcome here!"
"We're on our way to the Forest Terminal." Takuya told them. "Sorry to disturb you."
"Takuya, you disturb everyone. And most times it's not even on purpose." I mumbled to him, not taking my eyes off of the closest candle thingy.
"You're not helping!"
"Ooo, you're melting my heart." The leader told us sarcastically.
"Oh, that's a no-no!" The rest of the group chimed in.
"You mean to steal an artifact from us, don't you? Well you won't get away with it!" The leader assumed quickly that Takuya had been lying.
"He's right, the humans must be punished." The candle on the leader's right added.
"Boss," the candle on the left asked. "You want us to wax 'em for ya?"
"Wait!" Bokomon stepped in. "Stop, I can explain. These humans have come to help us save the Digital world, not steal some artifact."
"But we didn't know that at first." Takuya said, looking down at Bokomon.
"Shut up Takuya." I mumbled out of the corner of my mouth.
"This may be hard to believe, but somehow this boy was infused with the spirit of one of the legendary warriors. Agunimon. And this girl here," he gestured over to me. "The spirit of Raveamon."
"Did you say Agunimon? Raveamon? Impossible!" The leader scoffed.
"That's a hot one." One of the minions on a ledge commented.
But another wasn't so sure what to think. "What if it really is them?"
A candle-dude that was closer to us said confidently, "He's just pulling our wicks!"
I glanced around as more and more outbursts came from the Digimon, each of them having their own opinions. I heard one just rambling on and on about potatoes.
"This is interesting." The lead candle mumbled. He and the two at his sides made a quick huddle, and then turned back to us. "Please excuse our rude behavior my dear young friends." He laughed cheerfully as he floated over the river to us. "We are the Candlemon tribe. It is our sacred duty to protect the ancient artifact. So, which of you inherited the spirit of the legendary warriors?"
"These two," Bokomon gestured to Takuya and I. "Takuya and Toshiku."
The leader of the Candlemon looked from me, and then to Takuya, who was shaking in his shoes. I made a move forward, and put an arm out in front of Takuya.
The Candlemon looked at me funny, and then asked in a seemingly surprised tone, "Do you not trust me?"
"It's not that," I lied. "I just don't want clumsy over here to fall into the river and get a cold."
He looked back at Takuya, apparently believing me. "Well, you have a brave face young man. On behalf of all the Candlemon tribe, I bid you all welcome. Please," he said as floated, and then began hopping in another direction, expecting us to follow. "Be our guests."
As everyone walked after the Candle-mustache, Takuya stopped me and said, "I wasn't going to fall into the river. How dumb do you think I am?"
"Quite, but I knew that you wouldn't." I answered, looking at him rather blankly.
"Huh?" He seemed confused as he asked, "Then why did you move in front of me?"
I shrugged. "You looked scared. I wanted you to know I was there."
"What?! I was so not scared!"
I smirked, and replied coolly, "Of course you weren't Takuya. Of course you weren't."
He growled and walked away from me after the others. But he stopped short and looked back at me.
"You're…you're coming…right? I mean, you aren't just going to leave us, are you?"
I smirked and walked past him. "And you said you weren't scared."
"I'm not!"
"Come now," The Candlemon interrupted. "Let's not dawdle."
We followed him until we came to a large stone pillar with flames at the tip, and around the base. As we got closer, I saw that all of the symbols had been carved into the pillar. All of the Candlemon were hopping around it in perfect synchronization, and all of them were holding one—some two—green clover-like plants.
"Looks like a giant birthday party." Takuya noted.
"Let's all sing!" Neemon exclaimed, but before he could start it all off, Bokomon yelled at him about being a nincompoop, and I heard him snap his waistband again.
"It's for you my friends! A welcome ceremony, enjoy!" Candlemon told us, beckoning for us to come closer to the fire. "Come closer, feel the warmth of the flames."
"Guys, maybe this isn't a good idea. We should be finding a way to the Forest Terminal." I told them, not liking how kind they were trying to be after having threatened to burn us into human raisins.
But before we could try to leave, the other Candlemon threw the clovers into the flames, and a light bottle green smoke filled the air.
I took one breath of it in, and everything just started fading in and out in a drowsy haze.
"I…I told you guys we had to…leave…"
"So you've obtained the spirits of Agunimon and Raveamon have you? We'll soon shed some light on this!" The lead Candlemon shouted at us as we faded into the clover-induced sleep.
"The river…" I looked at Takuya as soon as the words came out of his mouth.
"Let's turn up the heat on these artifact filchers! Get them Candlemon!" Candle-mustache shouted to his candle minions.
I jumped up onto my feet and ran after everyone as they leapt into the river.
"Lava Loogie!" I dove into the river as two of the Candlemon spit lava-snot at us.
I nearly face palmed as I noticed that I hadn't taken a breath before leaping in. But this was one of the least of my problems. I looked on down towards the others, and saw that Tommy was lagging far behind.
I pushed off from the bank towards him when a few air bubbles floated to the surface. When I got to him, I wrapped an arm around him and swam back up to the surface of the water with the others.
I pulled Tommy up out of the water as far as I could get him without making him target practice for the Candlemon that were still running—hopping—after us along the bank.
"Oh, did I disturb you're beauty sleep?" Takuya asked JP, a hint of sarcasm in his tone.
"We should be safe here. I'll bet that fire Digimon like Candlemon can't get near the water." Zoe said.
"Don't underestimate anything in this place!" I told her, not wanting them to get lost, befriend some hungry Digimon, and end up getting eaten. Although, it would've been nice not having her around to nag in my ear all day long.
"Guess again human! Lava Loogie!" The two Candlemon shot more lava at us as we ducked back into the safety of the water.
I looked ahead to where we were swimming to, and saw a separation between a few rocks. It was well hidden, I guess. I let the air out of my lungs in a sigh, although I realized as my lungs started to burn that it had been a bad idea.
I pushed Tommy over to Takuya through the water and swam back to the Candlemon. I felt water rush past my head as one of them tried to grab me, but I slipped out of their reach and kept going.
As soon as I was just a few yards from the bank, I spirit-evolved with difficulty and soared up onto the bank in front of a few Candlemon. I gave a quick flap of my wings, and the water fell from them like a hurricane.
They stared at me as I folded my wings back behind me.
I smirked as I asked them, "What? You look like you've seen a ghost."
They growled, non-too fond of the comment. "Lava Loogie!" They shouted at me, firing more lava-snot at me.
I merely flicked their attacks away with a wave of my wing.
"Can't catch me! I'm the gingerbread man!"
"Uh, what?" I turned around to see Takuya running away from a couple of Candlemon. They fired an attack at him, and I heard a really high-pitched squeak-giggle-thing.
I sighed and took off after them.
They fired another Lava Loogie at him, and knocked him forward.
"Oh no!" I heard the clattering of his D-Tector as it flew out a ways in front of him. "My D-Tector!"
Takuya looked back as I slammed the Candlemon coming after him into the rock wall.
He jumped forward and grabbed his D-Tector.
"Spirit-evolution time!" He shouted before being consumed in data. When he reappeared, he was the smarter of the two.
"Lava Loogie!" More lava came hurtling towards him, but he merely whacked it out of his face.
Flames shrouded his arms as he shouted, "I summon the Pyro Tornado!" He thrusted his arms out in a punch-like motion, the flames rolling off him and into the faces of the Candlemon.
They lurched backwards, but then began to laugh. The flames on their heads had grown larger, and they didn't seem to be hurt at all.
"Takuya! Fire attacks aren't going to work on Digimon like Candlemon you moron!" I shouted at him.
"Like I'm supposed to know that!" He retorted with a snarl.
I would've started another argument with him, but I was stopped by the Candlemon blowing streams of fire at us.
They stopped, and continued while we recovered with a different attack. "Paraffin Paralyzer!" They spun round in circles, white wax flying off of them.
I tried to fling it away like the lava-sneeze-goo, but it stuck to me and burned my wings. I tried to pry it off of me, but it was sticky, and was already starting to harden.
"I…I can't move anything!" I heard the wax squeaking and sizzling as Takuya tried to free himself.
"Hang on you guys! I'm coming!" I shifted my gaze and saw Tommy come running down the side of one of the less steep ledges and into the river. He took off his hat, filled it with water, and threw the water at the Candlemon. "Lights out! Ya meanies!"
They recoiled from the water, but didn't run away completely. Tommy continued to throw the water at them as he said, "I won't be just a little kid in the way ever again!"
I heard the sound of ice shattering and saw a small white figurine glide over and settle above the water, turning the whole river to ice.
Tommy pulled out his D-Tector, and the spirit glided into it with a small burst of light. He was at once surrounded by data. When it all left, he had become a short, white teddy bear with green armor.
He skidded across the ice towards us. "Time to teach you bullies a lesson. Crystal Freeze!"
He took in a deep breath, and then blew a cold wind out at one of the Candlemon, freezing him completely in place.
"Hey there teddy bear," the other Candlemon said. "You want a play mate? Ha-cha!" It spun around, encasing itself in a tower of fire. It floated up, and was surrounded by data. When it came back into focus, it was a wizard thing.
"Crystal Freeze!" Tommy shouted again as cold air shot over to the Wizardmon.
But it jumped out of the way, and slammed his foot into his face. "Take off Teddy."
I clenched my fists, and batted my wings. The wax fell from them after some trouble, and I dashed forward at Wizardmon. I reached out towards him, my fingers curved, talons outstretched.
"How 'bout a little Magical Game? Ta-ta-a!" And with that, the Wizardmon vanished into thin air, my hand slamming into the wall that had been behind him.
I looked around me. I could hear his footsteps, and the sound of his mocking laughter.
"Up here!" He shouted from above our heads. "I know, let's play catch!" He shot small bursts of lightning down at us. But to me he had pretty poor aim, and we avoided all of them.
He landed back on the ground and reappeared. "Not bad. Legendary warriors. But I've got plenty up my sleeve." In one swift motion, dozens of Wizardmon had me and Takuya surrounded. "Too bad you're going to lose, no matter which Wizardmon you choose."
I looked from one to another as it continued to rhyme, "Agunimon, Raveamon, can't you see? All these Wizardmon are me! We all look real because we are. Just try to run, you won't get far!"
"One's gotta be different," I told Takuya, facing one of the Wizardmon. "Look for anything that sets it apart from the others!"
"Every hero must fall. You're time is up, Electro Squall!" In one synchronized motion, all of the Wizardmon raised their wands up to us, and lightning pushed through the air from them.
I jumped up, Takuya right into the air after me.
I looked down as Tommy called out to us, "Only one of them has a shadow!"
"Thanks." Takuya replied. He lunged forward and slammed a knee into the real Wizardmon. "Game over!"
He let out a yell as he fell backwards. His image darkened as a single ring of data rotated around him.
"I never did believe in magic." Takuya said as he retrieved the fractal code.
"Ha," I smirked. "That's hard to believe."
"Yay!" Zoe shouted, following with something in foreign again.
"Yeah! Multo—what she said!" JP yelled, sounding pretty darn stupid.
I extended a hand to Tommy.
"Thanks Toshiku." He said as he took it and I pulled him up onto his feet.
"No, thank you. You're one brave little bear." Takuya said with a smile.
"Well," one of the Candlemon that hadn't attacked us said. "I guess this proves that they are the legendary warriors after all!"
"Yes." The leader continued from there. "I would not have believed it if I hadn't seen it for myself."
Data wrapped around all of us as we returned to normal.
"You have indeed proven yourselves worthy of carrying the spirits of the legendary warriors my young friends. Takuya, Toshiku, and little Tommy. You three have really honored the great names of Agunimon, Kumamon, and Raveamon. I salute you all."
The Candlemon erupted into cheers as the three lead Candlemon approached us. Zoe, JP, Bokomon, and Neemon were by us again, having come out of 'hiding'.
"I'm afraid I owe you all an apology." Candle-mustache told us. "The truth is we thought you might possess the spirits of the legendary warriors, but we still had to make sure. I'm sorry we didn't trust you."
"I didn't exactly trust you either." I told them.
"So," Tommy said, looking slightly confused at the Candlemon before us. "This was all just a test?"
"Well that pretty much stinks!" Takuya exclaimed with slight anger. "You're lucky I don't pinch your lights out for that!"
But the Candlemon simply laughed and apologized again. "I'm so sorry; you have every right to be angry,"
"Fractal code, rendered."
Right after the voice from Takuya's D-Tector spoke, a long strip of data flowed out from it, and curled around where the bridge used to be, making it reappear.
"Wizardmon had the code!" Bokomon exclaimed in surprise.
"Wizardmon held within him the fractal code for the bridge, which protected out town from evil Digimon," He looked over at Takuya. "Young Takuya, for many years no one has crossed this bridge, but you have my official permission to use this bridge. Follow the tracks and they will lead you to the Forest Terminal, but it is a perilous journey."
"Uhhh, maybe we should think about this guys; I mean, it's still not too late to go home.
Zoe giggled as she said, "You're just jealous because Tommy found his inner Digimon and you haven't yet."
"Why would I even care about that? Shorty can have it." He told her. He looked away and kept talking, "It's just that being here is like working—"
"Ha, and we all know how you feel about that!" Takuya exclaimed, beaming as everyone started to laugh.
"Yeah, very funny." JP stated sarcastically.
"Heh, you're one mean little salamander Takuya." I said, smiling slyly.
As everyone started to laugh again, I looked up to see a Trailmon cross over the bridge. I wondered what would've happened if the bridge hadn't been there when it crossed over.
"Hey," Takuya took the opportunity to state the obvious. "Somebody else just beat us across the bridge."
"Hmmm…" As I stared up at the bridge, I started to think about who could be on it.
And if Koji was going to the Forest Terminal too.
