A/N: It's cold. Just saying.
Well. Thus starts about three or four chapters that are a bit slow, but they are necessary. And I try to put in fun parts, to make them more interesting. Seriously, I promise, Chapter 10 is when things will really start to pick up. (I'm so close to finishing that chapter, but Tai's POV is making things extremely difficult...ugh...) Any ideas would be wonderful, as always!
Random warning: I don't drink tea. I actually quite dislike tea (and coffee...I'm the unfortunate person that is addicted to hot chocolate. Which I'm going to make myself in two minutes, once this is uploaded). But, well, tea is big in Japan, apparently, and Iroh obviously has a peculiar affinity for it (my sister and I kept a tally of all his tea references. It was large.), tea has to premier. I'm just warning that my tea facts may be completely wrong.
In other news, I read 30 books last month. That's a new high for me. And now, on to the chapter! Enjoy! Review if you feel so inclined!
TK yawned.
He hadn't meant to; it just slipped out. But he was tired, and he was hungry and cold, and he missed Patamon, and his mind was going into overdrive, and…
He yawned again. As subtly as he could, he covered his mouth with his hands and tried to fight back the instinct to curl up and fall asleep. He wasn't eight anymore…he could handle a long day…
Tai had taken his leadership initiative and was talking with the bald boy and the teenager with the shaggy black hair. TK had missed some of the conversation during his small yawning crisis, but now he strained to listen to it again. "…so you're sure this Iroh guy can explain things?
The teenager shed a small smile. "He's told us almost nothing, but Uncle has been hinting at something big happening…he speaks in riddles on a good day, though, so we didn't know what was going to happen."
"Sounds like this world's version of Gennai…" Matt muttered, chuckling in annoyance. TK nodded once before turning his attention back on the discussion ahead.
"Okay, so we'll go with you to this tea shop place, get things explained, and then…" Tai let his statement trail off. Both groups thought for a moment.
"Then we'll see what we have to do to help the Digiworld," Sora said—her face was ablaze with determination.
Tai nodded at her. "Sounds like a plan to me."
One by one, the groups of seven and eight filed out of the alley and into the streets of a city—what the bald boy had dubbed Bah Sing Se.
It was—enormous. Hectic. A rampage of men and women, noises, lights, smells…exactly what a city should be. Except not like a city on Earth. Not like Odaiba, or Tokyo, or how TK imagined New York City in America was…those were all skyscrapers and cement and cars and exhaust fumes, and the noise that accompanied modern times.
This had none of those hallmarks of city life.
This was dirt roads, and lanterns acting as street lights. Private vendors were assessing remaining wares; several of the carts seemed to bare damage, large holes…but that wasn't the strangest part of the new city.
It was noisy, and bright, but not from cars. There were no cars.
Actually, the more TK looked around, the more he was sure of one thing: there was no signs of anything electric or technological here. There were streetlamps periodically, but these were lit by fires, kerosene or something of that nature.
Izzy, too, seemed to have noticed this. He was clutching his laptop to his chest, hugging it as if afraid it would turn to sand and fall on the ground if he loosened his hold. "There's got to be an outlet somewhere, right?" TK asked the redhead curiously.
In a daze, Izzy nodded. "There has to be…I mean, we were sent here through a temporal portal created from digital code…one can assume that digital code also exists in some form here…"
"They look normal enough. I mean, they look human-not Digimon," Sora said, looking around curiously.
"They were pointing a stick at us," Joe interrupted, as if that settled something—what, TK couldn't quite figure out.
Sora and Joe started to argue about whether the offending stick made them more or less normal, but TK stopped paying attention. They were in a foreign world. For the second time that afternoon. He smirked. Even if Izzy was less than pleased, this place seemed friendly enough...
And that boy. The bald one that looked about Tai and Matt's age. He had jumped from the roof of a building without any trouble.
This world wasn't completely human.
Then again, with what had happened earlier when he was playing basketball, maybe something else was going on...
The Digidestined followed the other teenagers through Bah Sing Se.
Wherever they passed, silence fell. A small, unnoticeable silence that didn't extend into every corner. Life continued. Strangers-young and old-stared as the assortment of children walked by. Well, they had a reason to...the Digidestined kids were brightly attired; TK tugged on the collar of his teal jacket in discomfort. The people around them-they appeared to be mostly clothed in greens and beiges, with a few in a deep red every here and there. Tai, in his bright blue hoodie, and Sora, in a purple-and-red striped sweater, stuck out the most in the dim lighting.
But, as they continued, he noticed that it wasn't just them that elicited the barely concealed stares that briefly paused the bustle of the street. As the bald teen led the group, people stepped aside before continuing with their activities; several even appeared to bow in respect, and their heads remained lowered in wonder as those following appeared within their line of sight.
There was a certain satisfaction that came with stopping conversation all around them. If Patamon were here, heads really would be turning...
After about twenty minutes of navigating the dirt streets, the group arrived at their destination-a two-story building with the words 'Jasmine Dragon' embedded on the stone front.
With a brief look back at the entourage behind him, the shaggy-haired teenager entered the building. One by one the fifteen children filed in; the bald boy waited at the door, overseeing the group. As TK passed, the last of the Digidestined, he paused and lifted his arm in a sort of wave. The bald kid grinned and raised his hand; then he caught himself and looked at the entrance, his boy-like grin fading to a look of confusion.
Emitting a small sigh, TK entered the building. The door closed behind him, and the sounds of the city suddenly disappeared.
Zuko led the way into the tea shop. The inside was dimly lit; Uncle must have dowsed most of the fires before retiring for the night. It was getting late, but that couldn't be helped. They finally had a clue, even if it was in the form of eight strange children...
"Hey, King of Whatsit or Other, you want to give us some light?" That was Sokka, calmly taking a seat at one of the multiple tables.
"What happened to being afraid of the zombie attackers?" Zuko questioned, crossing his arms. Almost all of the group had entered by now.
"Me? Afraid? You must have been thinking of some other guy," Sokka replied nonchalantly. However, he still clutched his stick in his right hand. "Now, fire away."
As the door closed to the shop, Zuko carefully aimed a fireball at a lamp to his left. The flame caught instantly, illuminating the surprised faces of the strangers. He repeated this act several more times until the room no longer appeared in shadows.
Still standing next to the door, Aang lit one more lamp himself.
The new people-the Digidestined-stared. The shorter yellow-haired kid was smiling widely, as if he had just seen the elusive Unagi. Most of the others were just gaping in surprise; a little girl was the only one who seemed not completely stunned by the display of Firebending.
"...where...are we?" the leader-the boy with the mass of brown hair-asked.
Aang motioned for everyone to sit down. Himself, Zuko, Suki, and Katara joined Sokka at his table, while Mai settled herself on the ground and Toph leaned against a wall behind them. The eight kids took two tables to themselves; all of the chairs were moved to face each other.
"I should get Uncle..." the Firelord muttered, starting to get up. But he didn't. His eyes had been drawn to the doors to the kitchen; a shadow moved under the wooden door. Iroh.
"This is the city of Bah Sing Se," Suki started, "the capital of the Earth Kingdom."
At this statement, the newcomers looked around amongst themselves. One of them-an orange-haired girl-said, "Gennai mentioned...he was sending us to a place of four nations..."
"Well, that's here," Katara responded. "The Four Nations. The Earth Kingdom, the Water Tribe, the Fire Nation, and the Air Nomads."
"Are they all named after elements?" said the red-haired boy.
"...of course...they're named after the predominant bending done in each location..." Suki answered, looking confused.
"Bending?" the leader asked.
It was Zuko and his group's turn to look incredulously amongst themselves. "You know, Bending. Fire Bending...Air, Water, Earth...like what I did a moment ago...bending," he said, finishing somewhat lamely.
"You mean when you shot fire out of your hands?" the older yellow-hair asked.
Slowly, Team Avatar nodded.
"Is...is that common here?" Orange girl asked. "Can you all...create fire?"
Katara cracked a smile. "No. You have to be a part of the Fire Nation, or at least of their descent, and even then most of the population are non-Benders."
"You really don't know anything about anything, do you?" came Toph, from the wall. "Look, Bending's not exactly uncommon. A fourth of this city can Earth Bend, even if they're wimps."
"Where we come from, Bending doesn't exist..." Blue Hair mentioned. "At least, I don't think it does..." Curiously enough, he was staring at his own hands, as if trying to see something important in them.
"Where do you come from? What brought you here?" Suki asked, leaning forward in her seat.
"Ah, that's the question we've been waiting for," came a voice from the back wall. The door to the kitchen bulged open, and out stepped Iroh, wielding a tray with several pots and a stack of glasses.
TK raised his eyebrows as a stout elderly man came through a door, carrying a tray of-was that tea?
"Marigold brews the clearest, but I decided to use nutmeg and cardamom tonight. I hope you enjoy." He set the tray down on a nearby table and began to place the cups in front of each of the Digidestined and the others. As he grabbed the first of several steaming tea pots, he paused and smiled to himself. "Excuse me. My name is Iroh."
So this was the man that the other group had been mentioning, that Matt had compared to Gennai. At first glance, TK couldn't find the similarity. Gennai never stopped talking, even if it was random and completely unnecessary-though, their latest encounter went against this supposition. This man talked slowly, as if he considered each word before allowing it to leave his mouth. And Gennai was...well, old. This guy was old, sure, the whitish-grey of his shoulder-length hair attested to that, but he didn't look as if he were anywhere near done with his life. He was round in a happy, relaxed manner, and he looked strong. Gennai was stooped with age; only in a staring contest might their confusing friend beat this man.
But, as a generous helping of sweet-smelling tea was poured into the cup in front of him, TK couldn't find any reason to dislike this stranger.
The other group was silent as Iroh performed his duties as tea-pourer; the only sounds from anyone, actually, were when a muttered 'thanks' were given, to which Iroh only beamed and said, "There now; one can't have a gathering without refreshment." It wasn't until the last tea cup was full, and he had settled down at a table himself, between the two groups, that conversation began again.
Iroh took a sip of his own tea. "Ah, delicious. Now," he said, putting his cup on a saucer, "you're from a different world, yes?"
TK nodded; he could see the rest of his friends doing the same.
"I'm not concerned about that world. There is plenty of time for stories of that later. However," and here, the old man leaned forward, "you didn't get here from that world directly."
It wasn't a question, but Tai still answered. "...yes. We...we tried to go to the Digiworld, but then we were sent to a...portal...and landed here."
"Not here, specifically, but in an alley a bit away..." Joe quickly added.
Iroh smiled a prize-worthy grin. "Nephew, these are the people you have been waiting for."
"How do you know any of this?" the fire-shooting teenager asked.
"Zuko, a member of the White Lotus does not reveal secrets so readily."
There! Finally, a name! The shaggy, black-haired boy, with-was that a scar?-on the right side of his face, the person who had bended fire, was Zuko. In triumph, TK took a sip of his tea; it was sweet and spicy at the same time, a foreign flavor that seemed to distill any yawns the boy still felt like emitting.
"This must be very confusing for all of you," Iroh was saying. "However, all should be made clear soon."
"I hate when you say that..." the ponytail boy said, wiggling his stick around. "How soon is 'soon' this time?"
"Patience is a virtue."
"So is stealth and speed," a girl said.
"The Unagi need only rise for air once a moon, such is its ability to wait."
"One should act with regret rather than regret not acting."
"Excuse me for the interruption, but you're both giving me a headache," the ponytail boy interrupted the exchange between Iroh and the girl. "Go into the other room if you want to have a battle of wits."
Iroh looked around sheepishly; the girl only looked victorious.
"What I want to know...sorry, Izzy, here..." spoke the redhead to TK's left, "You mentioned Fire bending. You can bend the other elements? Water and Earth?"
"And Air," bald boy stated, grinning a little. "Though that's pretty rare at this time." At that line, the group of strangers all smirked, as if sharing a private joke. "So you're really from another world..."
"You bet," Tai said triumphantly, raising his fist as if to punch the ceiling.
And, to the surprise of all assembled, a discernable strain of fire shot briefly out of his fist and toward the enclosed heavens.
"Tai..." one of the girls from the Digidestined was saying.
Tai, the one wearing goggles, was staring in shock at the space above his head. "So it did happen before..." he muttered to himself. His eyes were wide.
"You're a Fire Bender?" Zuko found himself asking, though on reflection it didn't need to be stated. How else did the fire appear?
"I...not before today..." the boy answered, still gazing at the ceiling in amazement.
Zuko bit his lip to stop himself from blurting out angry proclamations. Tai, and the other group, obviously had no idea what just happened. If they came from a different world-they wouldn't have known about Bending. A world of non-Benders...the very thought made Zuko want to shudder.
As toddlers, children from the Fire Nation were screened intensely for signs of the skill. Almost all were discovered before they entered the first year of schooling; the more wealthy would be given private lessons to help master the talent, while the poorer were mandated to attend group studies several times a week. No Bender could misuse, or worse, ignore, the special ability. As a prince, Zuko had studied Fire Bending from professionals since the age of five; at the age of nine, he was at a level equal to his many of his tutors. Of course, Azula was at that same competent level at the age of seven...
But, as far as he knew, no child made it into his teenage years without knowledge of possessing the skill. It just didn't lie dormant like that. And here, this boy suddenly realized he could bend an element. Zuko almost felt sorry for him.
"So. Tai can shoot fire now. That's a new development," the blue-hair kid was saying.
"More tea?" Iroh asked. Zuko shook his head. Now was not the time for pleasantries and tea, despite his uncle's sincerest beliefs.
"I...what does Water Bending look like?" the older yellow boy asked. Blue Hair looked up sharply, obviously interested.
Katara cleared her throat. "Well, it depends...I mean, we can't create water, but we can manipulate it to almost any level."
"Can you freeze water into ice?" Blue asked suddenly.
"Could you make rain stop around you?" Yellow said at the same time. They looked at each other before directing their gazes at the Water Bender.
She frowned. "Those are pretty basic forms of Water Bending, sure..."
The room was silent for a few moments, before Tai chuckled. He seemed to have regained his senses after the display of Fire Bending. "Don't say it. You two are Water Benders now?"
"Problem with that, Fire Bender?" Yellow asked provokingly.
"Nope, Ishida. But fire could trump water any day."
"Shut it," Toph said, stomping on the ground. Both Yellow and Tai's chairs rose several feet; rather, Zuko noted, the ground underneath them did. They immediately quieted down, gripping the edges of their seats tightly. "So we have a Firebender and two Waterbenders from a world without Bending. Anyone else see a problem here?"
"Why not?" Suki asked. "They landed here. Maybe they were sent because they suddenly gained Bending?"
"How? I'd love to try Fire Bending...actually, no, I wouldn't...but, anyway, I can't. Because you have to be born a Bender," said Mai, raising an eyebrow.
There was silence once again, for a moment. Then Zuko realized something. Three of them were somehow Benders. "Is it only the three of you, or can the rest of you Bend?"
"...can the rest of you Bend?" Zuko asked.
Despite the strangeness of the situation, TK raised his hand-along with Izzy, Mimi, Sora, and Kari.
"Well. This is interesting," the actual Firebender said, slightly amused.
"I can...well, I think I put a dent in a stone wall earlier..." Mimi said.
"I had a similar situation to Mimi, then." This was from Izzy, who was still clutching his laptop. "Though I didn't look further into the occurrence."
"You? Not look into something? What, are you sick?" Tai joked.
Izzy glared. "My Digivice had just beeped, and my laptop was at home. I had other things on my mind." This made Tai stop his teasing.
"I'm not sure what a 'laptop' is, but it sounds like you two are Earthbenders," the girl who had explained Waterbending said.
TK thought for a moment. He had jumped up high, and then, the way down..."You said there was such thing as Airbenders?" he asked.
"Yeah, but don't hold your breath looking for any. There's only one," the girl standing against the wall said.
"Well, now there's three," Sora said calmly. TK looked at her in surprise. So she could fly like he could? "Why's there only one Airbender? Who is it?"
"It's a long story," the bald kid with the blue arrow tattoo said. "And I am."
Well, he had fallen from the sky and landed neatly when they had all first met. He might as well be an Airbender.
"Sora and TK are Airbenders. Joe and Matt are Waterbenders. Mimi and myself are Earthbenders. Kari, I'm going to assume that you're a Firebender like Tai, then?" Izzy listed off. The younger girl nodded quickly.
"And none of us knew about this...Bending...thingy until this morning, right?" Joe asked. One by one, the Digidestined shook their heads.
Iroh was smiling at the exchange between the two groups. "Now we have that settled. Zuko, I think it's time to show what you and your friends were given."
The young Firelord ran up the stairs; later, he would feel embarrassed by his enthusiasm, but he was tired of waiting, of being curious, of listening to the random theories given by the others of his group. Aang may be used to planning and biding his time, but Zuko was more adept at spur-of-the-moment decisions. Such as joining the Avatar. Or traveling with his uncle to the Earth Kingdom capital.
The Digi-egg was waiting for him on his bed, where he had left it. It was warm to the touch as he picked it up gently...whatever it was, it was an egg, and even royalty knew that eggs were easily breakable.
Very little had changed in the interim when he had run upstairs. Iroh was offering more tea to the newcomers and to his own acquaintances; most were politely refusing, their cups still full. The new male Firebender was drinking his consistently, but he was the only one that seemed interested in drinking at the moment.
Zuko took his seat again, holding his red egg on his lap. The Digidestined stared at it in shock-he was getting used to seeing that expression on each of their faces.
"Yes, we know it's a ginormous egg. You don't need to say that," Toph was irately saying. "You should tell us why we each have a ginormous egg thing."
"...but those are Digi-eggs," the young yellow-hair, an Airbender, stated.
Toph thrust her arms to the ground. Fortunately, nothing appeared to fall over or explode. "We know that! Duh! But what are Digi-eggs, exactly?"
The redhead answered. "They're...um, they're eggs...that hatch to Digimon. I've never seen them outside of the Digiworld...though I suppose Tai and Kari did receive one at Heighten View Terrace..."
"So it'll hatch?" Sokka asked, looking at the egg on Zuko's lap expectantly. "Into what?"
"You can never tell," the younger yellow hair answered. "A Snowbotamon, a Puttimon...there are hundreds..."
"Are they fish?"
"Er...they can be?"
"Reptiles?" This time, Suki asked the one-word question.
"Sometimes."
"What do you mean, sometimes?"
"...well, there really isn't a set pattern to what type of creature the Digimon is..."
"Digimon?"
"Digital Monster...Izzy, help? I don't think they have 'digital' in this world..." Yellow looked to Red for assistance.
Izzy looked lost for a brief moment. Then he regained his composure and sat up straight. "Digital is a term for a medium of communication and data storage our world has created via electricity. Judging from the lack of wires and electronics here, I would assume you've never heard of it before."
Team Avatar shook their heads. Even Iroh seemed intrigued. "Communication? Not talking or writing, I would assume?"
"Er...it could be either, actually...I would show you on my laptop"-here he patted a yellow rectangular thing that he had been clutching conspicuously-"but I don't want to lose all energy too soon, since I don't think I'll be able to charge it here."
"You didn't have a problem using it in the Digiworld the first time," the older Yellow Waterbender said pointedly.
Izzy scratched behind his ear. "...I was immature then?"
Tai looked triumphant. "I always wanted to hear him say that! Thanks, Matt!"
Matt-that was a strange name-shrugged, but he seemed pleased with himself.
Zuko's mind was spinning. There was something they were discussing, but it didn't make sense to him. And now Matt and Tai were joking and teasing, as if this were normal for them.
Who knew? Maybe this was normal for these newcomers.
"So Digimon will hatch from these eggs?" Katara asked. "Mind if I go get mine?" Without waiting for a response, she ran up the stairs.
"When do they hatch?" Aang asked as the group settled around.
The young girl-the other Firebender-spoke for the first time. "You have to rub them."
The other Yellow nodded. "Yeah, you just rub it for a bit, and then..."
Sokka stared pointedly at Zuko. "What are you waiting for?"
With a sigh, he started to rub the smooth surface of the egg. For several seconds, nothing happened; his own friends leaned closer, watching-even the Digidestined were staring hard at the spectacle of the teen gently caressing the egg. Just when Zuko was about to give up and turn bright red from embarrassment, something changed.
The egg lurched, slightly. Another circle of rubbing...it made a harsh cracking sound, and the shell disappeared in a pop.
And in its place on Zuko's lap was a small ball of wavering smoke with two bright eyes staring up at him.