The group of eight had been walking for a few hours with Amaya reluctantly following behind them. They had been traveling up a hill covered in trees before they stopped at the top of it for a breather.
High above the trees and the hill was a set of Trailmon tracks which most of the group was now looking up at. Bokomon and Neemon were standing on top of a fallen tree as they looked up at the tracks.
"I believe the forest kingdom begins just beyond that track." Bokomon informed them as he pointed to the tracks that had everyone's attention.
"It sure looks big." Takuya stated as he stood beside J.P.
"Hey Bokomon, how much farther do we have to walk to get to the forest terminal?" J.P. questioned Bokomon as Amaya glared at him.
"Don't worry; you should only have to walk a little bit more." Bokomon informed him as he and Neemon jumped off of the log and onto the ground.
"A little bit more. These little bits are killing me." J.P. complained.
"If he keeps complaining I'm leaving." Amaya snapped quietly at Kouji who rolled his eyes at her.
Kouji completely ignored Amaya as he walked away from the group while unintentionally taking the led as Zoe followed after him. Amaya glared at Zoe before she followed after them at a slower pace with J.P. and Tommy walking right beside her with Bokomon and Neemon not far behind them. The sky was slowly turning from bright blue to orange and red which signaled that night was approaching them fast.
"Wait up!" Takuya shouted after Kouji and Zoe as he ran after them.
"Man. Isn't it time for a dinner break or something? I'm wasting away here." J.P. complained loudly as he and Tommy stopped walking.
"We didn't even get any breakfast yet." Tommy added onto J.P.'s complaint as Amaya continued to walk straight by them.
"I think we better stop here and make camp." Takuya informed Zoe and Kouji as they had stopped walking and were standing in a sort of circle.
"It's been a long day for all of us." Zoe stated her opinion as Amaya walked past them.
"Yeah. Whatever." Kouji agreed dully as he caught Amaya's arm before she walked on and left them behind.
"I could go on for a while longer." Amaya informed them dully as she kept her back to them.
"We're stopping?" Tommy questioned as he ran up to them with J.P., Bokomon and Neemon right behind him.
"Does that mean I get to eat and lie down and eat?" J.P. questioned a little too excitedly.
"If that's the way to get you to spot complaining and shut up then the answer's yes." Amaya snapped while glaring over her shoulder at J.P.
"You don't have to be so snappy Amaya. Geez someone doesn't get much love at home." Takuya joked only to have something kicked into his face.
"What would you know!?" Amaya snapped as she was restrained from harming Takuya any worse by Kouji.
"What's this?" Zoe questioned while picking up the thing Amaya had kicked into Takuya's face.
"It felt like a rock." Takuya mumbled as he glared at Amaya.
"That's a meat apple." Bokomon informed them wisely.
"Meat apple?" everyone questioned in unison while wondering what that was.
"Yes, each one has the flavor of a different meat, they're actually quite nutritious" Bokomon informed them as he read from his book.
"Where'd you find that thing?" Takuya asked as he pointed at the apple Zoe held in her hands.
"Amaya kicked it and it hit you in the face, so that must mean there is a tree nearby." Zoe informed Takuya as she looked around.
"Bokomon will you help me find some more?" Zoe questioned said digimon as she ran away from the group.
"Can I come?" Neemon questioned Bokomon as he started to follow Zoe.
"Alright." Bokomon stated before dragging Neemon along by his pants.
"Wait for me!" Tommy yelled after them as he ran after them.
"Well I guess we better gather some fire wood." Takuya stated before he looked over at Amaya.
"Aren't you going with them?" Takuya questioned her as he pointed after Zoe and Tommy.
"No, I'm gonna stick around so I can beat you to a pulp when you least expect it." Amaya informed him with a devilish smile and tone.
"Right, Kouji I think she just elected herself to be your partner." Takuya stated rather fearfully.
"Am I gonna have to lift anything heavy?" J.P. questioned suddenly which broke part of the tension in the air.
"It's wood J.P., what do you think?" Amaya asked J.P. with a snap before Kouji guided her away from them.
"What's wrong with you?" Kouji questioned her once they were out of ear shot of the other two.
"I hate being in large groups, and J.P. the complainer, Takuya the pervert, and Zoe the girlie freaking girl is driving me crazy." Amaya snapped lightly with her arms crossed.
"Girls." Kouji mumbled which earned him a sharp glare as he started gathering wood for a fire.
"What did you want to talk to me about before?" Amaya questioned as she started gathering fire wood and piling it up in a pile on the ground.
"Your spirit. Where and when did you find it?" Kouji questioned as he turned to her half expecting her to just be standing there.
"I found it like maybe five minutes before Bunnymon dragged you back to Little Villa in a hole I fell in while running away from a big dinosaur digimon that I pissed off. The cave I fell into was pretty though the floor was red while the ceiling was blue and there in the center of it all was a crescent moon with a star at the opening craved in yellow on the wall with a red and silver spirit floating in front of it.
It felt weird you know, changing into something I thought was a monster when we first got here, but it's pretty cool." Amaya rambled a little as she continued picking through the twigs and sticks on the forest floor.
"It is weird, but we're meant to do something in this world." Kouji informed her which made her look up at him from her squatting position.
"You're spirit fits you, you know? Cause you're more of a lone wolf and the whole metal wolf so fits you, it's pretty cool actually." Amaya informed him while sticking her tongue out at him.
"You're weird. You're not like other girls at all." Kouji informed her only to receive a fake smile in return.
"Unlike Zoe who probably couldn't fight her way out of a paper bag without her spirit, I can fight off anything as long as I have two good fists or a pole." Amaya informed him as she blew part of her bangs out of her face.
Kouji chuckled at her reference to Zoe whom Amaya didn't seem to like in the least and watched as she threw another stick into her pile. Kouji dropped the sticks he had collected on top of the ones Amaya had collected and found that they had more than the two of them could carry.
Kouji bundled the sticks up into two separate bundles before he picked one of them up and headed back to their camp sight. Amaya followed after him picking up the other bundle and walking beside him in an easy kept pace.
"Hey! We thought you two had gotten lost or something." Takuya joked as soon as he saw the two of them only to have Amaya throw her bundle of sticks at him.
"Keep your head out of the gutter you perverted fool." Amaya snapped as she slid down the front of a nearby tree and glared sideways at him.
"What'd you do this time Takuya?" Zoe questioned as she, Tommy, Bokomon and Neemon came back to camp with all the apples they could carry.
"He was thinking dirty, per usual for him if you ask me." Amaya stated as she leaned back against the tree.
"What!? Girl you are so wrong in the head that you seriously need to have it examined!" Takuya shouted only to have Amaya flip him off and pull her bag around to where she could dig through it.
"Takuya, I think she just blew you off." Zoe giggled as Kouji dropped his bundle of sticks next to Takuya.
"Hey! You might want these." Amaya called out as she tossed a small box at Takuya's head only to have Kouji catch it.
"Matches? Were you planning to burn something down?" J.P. questioned as Kouji set up a good spot for a fire.
"No J.P. I like to set people on fire at random. Dummy, it's part of my emergency kit which is a part of this bag." Amaya snapped as she pulled her brush from her bag and pulled her scrunchy from her hair.
"Come on J.P. you can help us put the apples on sticks." Zoe stated as she directed said boy over to where they had put the apples.
Zoe, Tommy, J.P., Bokomon and Neemon all sat in a circle putting the apples on sticks so they could roast them as Kouji and Takuya worked on the fire, which didn't want to catch. Amaya pushed her scrunchy up onto her elbow, pulled her hair over her shoulder and stuck the handle of her brush in her mouth as she stood and approached Kouji and Takuya.
She pulled out a blank loose piece of paper and when Kouji struck a match she stuck it to it before she placed the lit piece of paper under the sticks the boys had set up. It took a few minutes, but the sticks finally caught and the fire was lit then surrounded by apples on sticks.
"Who'd of thought you could light a fire?" J.P. questioned only to have Amaya roll her eyes.
"It doesn't take a genius to figure out that lighting a piece of paper and sticking it under wood will catch." Amaya informed him as she walked away from them and back to her tree while running her brush through her hair.
"That child is too unfriendly." Bokomon stated rather disappointed.
"Hey Bokomon, is there anything in your book about a beast spirit?" Takuya questioned while changing the subject from Amaya's behavior.
"I haven't seen anything." Bokomon informed Takuya with a curious look while losing all focus on Amaya.
"If it's not too much trouble, could you just take another look?" Takuya questioned which caused said digimon to take said book out of his pink waist band.
"Certainly!" Bokomon exclaimed as he opened said book.
"Let's see now beasts, beasts, beasts. I'm afraid I still don't see anything." Bokomon informed Takuya after he flipped through his book.
"Paws off baggy!" Bokomon snapped at Neemon who had been playing with one of the pages in the book.
"But I think I found something. This page seems folded over and maybe there's other stuff inside." Neemon informed Bokomon in his defense while showing Bokomon that the page was indeed folded over.
"Oh! It's a miracle. It seems that you are actually right. This changes everything. It seems there are two spirits for each legendary warrior and guardian." Bokomon informed everyone around the fire, but he was talking loud enough for Amaya to hear him from her seat under her tree.
"Huh?" Everyone around the fire questioned at the same time in surprise.
"The first is the human spirit like Agunimon, but the second is called a beast spirit. That explains where Gigasmon came from, but how did he summon the beast spirit?" Bokomon informed them all before he asked himself a question.
"I wonder what life would be like as a beastie." Neemon asked a loud which seemed to annoy Bokomon.
"Let's feed you to one and you can find out. Don't you realize this means the children may have the power to spirit evolve again!" Bokomon snapped at Neemon while the others seemed to be thinking.
'And he says I have an attitude problem. I think he should look in a mirror.' Amaya thought to herself as she listened to the conversation taking place around the camp fire.
"Well then if Bokomon's right each of us should be able to get a beast spirit." Kouji stated the facts as he starred into the fire.
"But if that's true then we're only half way there." Zoe informed them thoughtfully.
"Oh man! It's like starting all over again." J.P. complained loudly.
"Bokomon, Bokomon, Bokomon" Neemon called as he poked the back of Bokomon's head only to have his hand swatted away.
"But if we get our beast spirits then maybe we can beat Grumblemon." Tommy stated with an excited smile.
"Well I'm willing to give it a try. Beast spirit evolution here we go!" Takuya shouted while raising a fist to his face in determination.
"Yeah!" Zoe, Tommy and J.P. cheered in agreement.
"Bokomon, Bokomon, Bokomon," Neemon called to him again while poking him in the back of the head only to have his hand swatted away again.
"Is this a good idea?" Neemon asked nervously.
"What's the matter with you!?" Bokomon shouted at Neemon as he jumped onto his feet and balled up his fist.
"We have to help you find your beast spirits as soon as possible after all it may be the only way to save the digital world. We haven't even made it to the forest terminal yet and we're running out of time. These beast spirits must be our number one priority!" Bokomon told them boldly as if he had to convince them that their beast spirits had to be found.
"Nope, not good" Neemon whined a bit.
"What's not good!?" Bokomon snapped at Neemon.
"The meat apples. While you're all talking, they're burning up." Neemon stated calmly which made everyone around the fire turn their attention to the apples.
Everyone took the apples away from the fire as quickly as they could, but it caused a few of them to get burned in the process. They let the apples cool off a bit before they started eating with each of them calling out what their apple tasted like.
Amaya rolled her eyes at Zoe who fell backwards as she called out what hers tasted like in Italian. The sky turned dark right after Zoe called out her apples flavor and thunder cracked through the sky as cloud covered the moons.
"Hey. You're blocking the view." J.P. told the clouds that covered the moons.
"Something's happening." Tommy stated as the trees around the clearing began to glow.
"Wow a TV." Tommy shouted in excitement as the trees began to show different images.
"A bunch of them." Takuya stated in wonder as the whole group walked over to them.
"That's pretty sweet." Kouji stated in slight amazement as they each examined a different tree.
"Whoa. Tree TV, I hope it isn't all travel channels. I wonder if we can get music videos." J.P. questioned himself as Amaya rolled her eyes.
"Wait a minute. That's our world those are things from back home." Zoe informed everyone in surprise.
"That's right Zoe. It's called the TV forest a video gate way to the human world." Bokomon informed them as he read from his book.
"Now that's really weird." Kouji stated aloud as everyone seemed to recognize something on each tree.
"Seiji?" Amaya whispered as she spotted her brother walking through a train station.
Her brother was walking from person to person showing them something he held in his hand and asking them something at the same time. He seemed to be looking for something and just as he appeared to be walking down a stair case the sky cleared and the images on the trees disappeared. Amaya was torn from her thoughts of her brother when she heard Tommy screaming for his mother.
Takuya was by his side in an instant and was trying to calm him down as they went back to the fire wordlessly. Takuya sat next to Tommy with J.P. on the opposite side of Tommy and Zoe a little closer to the fire then they were. Amaya sat back down in front of the tree she had been sitting by and blinked in surprise when Kouji sat down beside her while holding a meat apple in front of her face.
She took it in both of her hands before giving him a small smile and taking a bite out of it. Zoe said something Amaya didn't catch, but Amaya did see Takuya offering an apple to Tommy, whom was still a bit upset.
"Hey Kouji, are you falling asleep?" Takuya questioned Kouji who was relaxed back against the tree.
"Sleep? I'm lucky I'm not bored to death." Kouji replied to Takuya's question while turning away from him.
"Hey bud, what's your problem! He needs a nap." J.P. stated rather hotly which made Amaya roll her eyes.
"He's just grumpy. Hey J.P. maybe Tommy would like to see you do some of your magic." Zoe suggested while catching the three boys attention.
Amaya tuned the others out and just stared straight up into the tree before she closed her eyes. Her mind wondered back to her brother and what he was searching for at that train station. They had been gone from home for at least four days and Amaya wondered if she was who her brother had been searching for.
Amaya fell asleep wondering about her brother and ended up with her head in Kouji's lap. He didn't move her from her spot, he just merely went to sleep in the position he was already in. Bokomon and Neemon climbed at tree and fell asleep on some of the branches while Tommy and Zoe made make shift beds out of leaves and went to sleep on them while Takuya and J.P. argued about watch duty.
"Amaya, Amaya wake up." Kouji snapped as he shook said girl awake.
"What?" Amaya mumbled as she sat up slowly.
"Something's wrong with Tommy." Kouji informed her as he stood up which made all sleepiness vanish from Amaya.
"Tommy, what is it?" Zoe questioned him as he stood with a smoldering stick in his hand.
"I won't forgive you. I won't forgive you. I won't forgive you." Tommy chanted over and over like a broken record.
"There's something wrong with him." Takuya stated as he and J.P. stood in front of Tommy while Zoe was off to his side.
"Hey half pint, snap out of it." J.P. instructed Tommy who took to a defensive position with the stick raised.
"Tommy! Stop that right now." Zoe scolded as Tommy swung at her with the stick.
"I will not forgive you." Tommy almost growled at them angrily.
"Now cut it out. This isn't funny Tommy!" Takuya snapped at him as Amaya stood on her feet.
"I won't forgive any of you! You're going to pay for what you did!" Tommy shouted at them as he threw the stick to the side and spirit evolved into Kumamon.
Kumamon froze the fire as Amaya and Kouji joined the others and then turned on them.
"What's wrong with him?" Amaya questioned in worry as they all backed away from Kumamon.
"That's one angry bear, and we have no idea what's gotten into him." Takuya informed Amaya right before they all split in a rush to get out of Kumamon's attack way.
They all ran behind the trees and J.P. tried to apologize to Tommy, but that seemed to only entice him to attack them. The tree he froze, fell and Takuya barely managed to push Zoe out of the way while Kouji had pulled Amaya backwards.
"Hey how come Takuya gets to fall with Zoe?" J.P. questioned hotly as Kumamon started advancing on them again.
"Run you jerk." Kouji snapped at him as he pulled Amaya off to one side as J.P. went the other to avoid another of Kumamon's attacks.
"Looks like the only choice we have is to spirit evolve and take him out." J.P. stated his thought as they all joined back up.
"No way in hell J.P." "I won't do it. There has to be another way." Amaya snapped at him while Takuya got defensive.
"Right" "Sorry J.P. I'm with them" Zoe and Kouji agreed with Amaya and Takuya which only seemed to make J.P. mad.
"Fine. Well what do you propose?" J.P. asked a bit upset over everyone being against his idea.
"Run!" Kouji shouted as Kumamon attacked them once again.
Kouji, Takuya and Amaya ran one way while Zoe and J.P. went the other. J.P. tripped and Zoe stepped in the middle of his back as she ran away. She stopped and apologized to him as the other three hid behind trees.
"What was that?" Kouji and Amaya questioned as a shadow flashed across the ground.
"I know I definitely heard something that time." Takuya informed them as he glared at the place the shadow had been.
"Right." Kouji agreed with him before he spirit evolved to Lobomon.
"Amaya spirit evolve and give me some back up." Lobomon instructed Amaya who was a bit reluctant, but did as she was told.
'Please don't make us hurt him' Kitsunamon begged internally as she stood with her scythe drawn.
Kitsunamon stood in front of Lobomon in a defensive stance just in case Kumamon tried to attack him. Kitsunamon heard J.P. protest to their actions and Zoe's defense as Lobomon pulled on of his swords from his side.
"Ancient spirit of light!" he shouted as he held the sword in the air and the forest was lit up.
Takuya saw the digimon that had caused the shadow they had seen, spirit evolved, and went after it while Kitsunamon and Lobomon stood in front of Kumamon. Zoe and J.P. argued a bit before Zoe turned and shouted at them, telling them not to harm Kumamon in anyway. Lobomon pushed Kitsunamon out of the way as Kumamon used his frozen tundra attack on them.
Lobomon held him off with his sword as Agunimon dived head long into a set of bushes. A few second later he came flying out hanging on to the back of a small digimon that Bokomon call Bakumon. Kumamon kept attacking Lobomon and with each attack Lobomon would push Kitsunamon back.
This kept going until Kitsunamon was flush up against a tree and Lobomon was standing barely a foot in front of her. She hissed before she put herself in between the two of them and pushed Kumamon off as he attacked her.
"Tommy stop this! We're not trying to hurt you! We just want to know what's wrong! Can't you see that!?" Kitsunamon snapped as Kumamon used his froze tundra attack on them again.
"It's only a dream! Bakumon's convinced him that we are the enemy!" Agunimon informed them which made Kitsunamon unsummon her scythe.
"Then we'll try this. Tears of the Moons!" Kitsunamon called out which made a circle of silver tear drops circle her wrist and circle Kumamon.
She closed her eyes and found herself transported into Tommy's mind. She could see what he was seeing and feel the hurt and anger that was coursing through him. She glared at the imposters that had Tommy pinned between them, but concentrated on Tommy instead.
"Tommy! Listen to me! We would never keep you from your family! Never! Do you hear me! Your family is important to you and we would never take them away from you or force you to stay away from them! You have to fight this it's all an illusion!" Kitsunamon shouted at him threw her attacks connection.
"What's going on? Why'd they both stop?" Lobomon questioned as Kitsunamon stood completely still with her hand stretched forwards and Kumamon seemed to be frozen in place.
"I don't know, but let's end this! Pyro punch!" Agunimon shouted as he sent his attacks towards Bakumon and made a direct hit.
Bakumon's fractal code became visible and Agunimon scanned him which turned him back into a sweet dream loving digimon. Kitsunamon was still in Tommy's mind when Bakumon was scanned and watched as the images of them restricting Tommy vanished and he turned to her.
"Kitsunamon?" he questioned aloud as he changed back into his normal self.
"Lobomon wow, have you been fighting somebody?" Tommy asked in confusion while starring up at him and Kitsunamon.
"Glad to have you back Tommy." Lobomon stated with a nod to the younger boy.
"That was one messed up nightmare." Kitsunamon mumbled before she hit her knees panting.
"Kitsunamon! Are you alright?" almost everyone shouted as she changed back to Amaya.
"That attack will wear you out in a hurry." Amaya informed them as Zoe walked up to Tommy.
"Tommy, don't you remember? You just had a terrible nightmare." Zoe informed Tommy as if nothing had happened to Amaya.
"Huh?" he questioned in confusion as he stood next to Amaya.
"That's right. You gave us quite a scare there young man. Bakumon's dream made you think that we were your enemies." Bokomon informed Tommy who was still confused.
"Yeah, but it was all Cherubimon's fault!" J.P. informed Tommy loudly.
"Bakumon's all better now. He didn't know what he was doing at the time." Neemon informed Tommy as he pointed at Bakumon who was floating right beside his head.
"I'm sorry. From now on I promise I'll only send you good dreams." Bakumon apologized and promised at the same time.
"Wow I had an adventure and I don't even remember." Tommy stated while rubbing the back of his head.
"It's good that you don't." Zoe told him as she turned to Amaya
"What kind of attack was that that you used on Tommy anyways?" Zoe questioned Amaya who gave her a tired glare.
"That would have been Kitsunamon's tears of the moons attack. It's not an actual attack Zoe, it's more of an ability to get inside of your opponents head and see what's going on." Bokomon informed them as Amaya climbed to her feet.
"It was weird, it was like I was actually inside of Tommy's head and I could see and feel what he was seeing and feeling." Amaya informed Bokomon who nodded in agreement with her.
"Kitsunamon is one of the legendary guardians who helped the legendary warriors back in their day, but she was also the rebellious one and couldn't be told what to do by anyone, not even the Celestials." Bokomon informed them as he led the way back to camp.
"She sounds exactly like Amaya, rebellious and snippy." Takuya laughed until Amaya hit him in the back of the head.
"I'm only snippy because I have to put up with you!" Amaya snapped at him before she turned and marched back to camp.
"Takuya I think you should avoid talking to her, you always get hit." Zoe informed him as Tommy ran straight past them and took Amaya's hand in his.
Amaya smiled at him before sticking her tongue out at him and making him laugh which made the others halt in their steps. Tommy pulled on Amaya's hand and made her spin in a circle before he stuck his tongue out at her and raced towards their camp sight. Amaya's smile widened as she was pulled towards their camp site by Tommy whom she had become a bit attached to in the past two days.
"Now that was just weird. She acts like a total stuck up snob when she's around us, but when she with Tommy or Kouji she's a completely different person." Zoe stated rather boldly as she lead the way back to camp with Bokomon and Neemon.
Once the others set foot into camp they notice that Tommy was back in his make shift bed and was asleep while Amaya was standing beside the tree she had been sitting in front of all night. Kouji joined her as J.P., Takuya and Zoe joined Tommy in their make shift beds.
Bakumon used a mist to give the four of them sweet dreams as Bokomon and Neemon climbed back up into their tree. Kouji sat down in front of the tree while Amaya remained on her feet and watched the others and Bakumon.
"Now that is the way to sleep." Kouji stated a loud as Amaya pulled her hair back into its normal ponytail.
"That is the way we all wish we could sleep." Amaya replied to him making him nod in agreement.
Kouji gave her a small smile before he dug his d-tector out of his pocket for it was making a weird racket.
"Your beast spirit awaits you, Kouji Minamoto, but first you have some growing to do." the same voice that had instructed them this far informed Kouji.
"Kouji?" Amaya questioned as he stood up and growled lightly at the device in his hand.
"Come on. Let's go." Kouji instructed as he took Amaya by the hand and led her away from the others and their camp site.