Chapter Seven: We Were Only Helping!
We met up with Tokomon and Daragumon at the river, where the water was about two feet deep, maybe a little less. "Okay, so what do we have.." Tokomon had managed to find a bundle of, well, it looked like yarn, but felt like rope? I have no idea what it was, but it would work. Daragumon had actually found two buckets, lucky dinosaur, and TK and myself managed to find about three feet of rope and a crate! "Perfect!"
"But what do we do with this stuff?"
"Well, we'll tie the rope to the crate, here," Sticking the rope between the top board and one beneath it, I tied it in a tight slip knot, so it would be, hopefully, strong enough to pull it. "So we can put the fish in here to bring back. Uhm... hm... we can gather fruit too, berries and stuff, and use the buckets to wash them off and carry them back."
"And we'll use the string to make fishing poles!... But we don't have any hooks."
"Do you have like a keyring on you? Or something similar that you don't need?" Thinking for a minute, he nodded, taking off his backpack.
He opened it up, digging around, tongue sticking out in concentrat- hey I do that too. Cute. "Here!" He held up a handful of... bobby pins? "Mimi asked me to hold them, but I'm sure she won't mind if we use a few" S-w-e-e-t~! "And we can use these for bait." As he lifted a bag of miniature gummy worms, I giggled, grinning.
"Sounds like a plan. Okay, so Daragumon, would you and Tokomon look around for berries and stuff? TK and I will handle the fishing." They agreed, and Daragumon picked up both buckets as they headed off, following the river opposite the direction of the waterfall.
I sat down and TK sat next to me, handing me the pins. "So we're just gonna bend them to look like hooks, right?"
"Yep, but on both sides. That way, we can tie the string around one side, and use the other to fish."
"Okay! We'll each do one, so we can both try. But what happens if they don't work?"
"Don't worry, Teeks, there's more than one way to catch a fish." Even if it's on accident. My brother learned that one when a fish decided to latch into his toes. Ah, what a fun day that was. He wound up falling into the bayou; came out looking like the swamp monster.
TK smiled, laughing, "Teeks?" Oh, woops. Well, I'd said it, so I guess I'll keep with it. Besides, it was a cute nickname, and he was a cute kid, so it fit.
Nodding, I started bending the pin in my hand -which was a bit harder than I'd have hoped-, trying to turn it into a hook without accidentally snapping it in two. "When I think someone's really cool, I like to give 'em a nickname. I know I haven't known you for long, but I just have a feeling that we're gonna be great friends."
"TK actually is a nickname. My real name's Takeru. But I like Teeks. It can be a special nickname, that only you call me, but only if I can give you a nickname too."
"Sounds like a plan! What do you have in mind?" He tapped his chin, thinking. I gotta admit, other than Theo, it was pretty hard to give me a name-based nickname. There weren't many different things you could do with my name. I could think of at least ten for Takeru alone.
"Hmm... Theodore... Theo...dore... TD...TD!" His face lit up happily, "Teddy! I'll call you Teddy!"
I wanted to just scoop him up and hug him forever, he was so damn cute. I wish he was my little brother. Man, I'd spoil him rotten. "Hehe, I'm a Teddy-bear." Giggles erupted from us both, and we high-fived. "Got it!" Granted, it was nowhere near perfect, but it looked kind of like a hook, and the fish wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
"Mine broke." TK pouted, but I patted him on the shoulder, smiling.
"We'll use this one to make you a line, okay? I wanna try something while you're line fishing." Taking the string, I slipped it through the bend part at the top and tied it extra tight, tugging on it to make sure it was sturdy. "Instead of using a stick though, because it could break, you can hold the other end. It'll make it easier to pull up the fish."
"Sounds good to me. What're you gonna do though?"
"Have you ever seen a bear catching fish on TV?" He nodded, "Like that, but with my hands instead of my mouth."
Giggling, he baited his line, tossing it into the water, "Just be careful."
Pfft, this was gonna be cake. I took off my jacket and put my digivice and tag inside of it, dropping my shoes and socks on top. I contemplated taking off my shorts, since they'd probably get really wet... but I didn't. There was already a chance TK would notice, I didn't need to double it.
So, I got about ten feet away from where TK had his line, and carefully got into the river. It was warm, thanks to the sun, but the rocks were slippery. I had to try and dig my feet in to stabilize myself. Alright. I was set and prepared, and just had to wait. There weren't too many fish coming through, which was understandable considering the time of day, but the ones that did were a decent enough size to make up for it.
Just keep your eye on the water... stay perfectly still... Eye on the fish... eye on the fish... eye on the- GO. With the swiftness of a cat -half dead cat maybe-, I went for it. Didn't go so well. My feet slipped out from under me as I lunged forward, and I went face first into the river. Managed to avoid face planting the rocks though.
I shot up, clawing at the bank, eyes wide, breathing heavily... out of my.. nose... "There's a fish in your mouth!"
WHAT!? I spit it out, making a horribly disgusted face,wiping off my tongue. "Oh man. Gross. So gross. Ew. Ewwww!" I dunked my face back in the water, taking in a mouthful, spitting it out once I popped back up. "I almost swallowed a fish!" TK couldn't talk, actually, I don't think he could breath. He was hunched over, hands holding his stomach as he laughed so hard he started to cry. "Don't laugh at my paaaaaain." I flopped my torso onto the bank, whining, but it just made him laugh harder.
I huffed, pouting, and shot a glare at the fish, which was laying in front of me. In response, it spit a stream of water at my face. What the absolute hell!?
Climbing out of the water, I picked the fish up by it's tail, walked over to the crate, and grabbed the rope, pulling the crate to the river. Then I dropped the fish into the crate, "Stay! Bad fish!" Daragumon and Tokomon walked up at that moment, two full buckets of fruit, and paused, looking from me, soaking wet and pouting, to TK who was laughing his butt off, and back again.
"Do we wanna know?" Daragumon sat down the buckets near the crate, and Tokomon hopped over to TK, giggling as well. "Okay, I wanna know. What happened?"
"I caught a fish with my moooooouuuth." He gave me a weird look, laughed, and patted my arm. "It was gross!"
"It was funny!" TK had calmed down enough now to talk, but his face was red and you could see he was biting back giggles. I stuck my tongue out at him, plopping down on my butt. "Lookie, I caught some too." He held up not one, not two, but three fish. I just stared, blinking. "They really like my gummy worms." The biggest grin was on his face, he was so proud.
So I smiled, "You're a natural, Teeks." Nodding happily, he baited his line again and tossed it out. Looking at our supplies, I made a face, thinking. "I think it'd be better if we put the fish in the buckets and the fruit in the box... cause if we leave the fish like that, they'll die and start to smell really bad."
"That's actually a good idea." And one we probably should have thought of before. Daragumon poured the fruits out onto the grass, and I couldn't help but stare at them. Spotted fruit, striped fruit, fruit shaped like squares. The digital world was weird as hell. "Here you go." Daragumon handed TK a bucket, filled about halfway with water, "And for you." Then handed me one as well, where I dropped my one fish in.
One measly fish. Bah. I had to do better than that. Determined, I slid back into the water, walking to the middle and grounding myself. Daragumon sat down by my bucket, watching me with a smirk on his face, TK and Tokomon smiling, trying to not giggle. I was not going to fail again!
xxXxx
"Don't. Say. Anything." Daragumon whistled, speeding up as he walked in front of us, pulling along the crate of fruit, Tokomon giggling as he rode on top. TK and I each had a bucket in our arms, though mine was considerably lighter than his. I had managed to catch six fish, which to me, wasn't that bad... unless you looked at TK's bucket full. I don't know what it was about gummy worms, but those fish went absolutely crazy over them. The kid caught fish after fish while I wound up almost drifting downstream. Yeah, I'd tripped and went into a deep spot, and there I went. Daragumon saved me by using TK's line, thankfully. Talk about embarrassing.
"You can have some of my fish if you want. To make it more even."
So sweet, goodness. "Nah, it's alright. You keep those fish. Show Matt how awesome you are." Being the age he is, and seeing how Matt treats him like a little kid, despite the fact that, uh, he's on this adventure too, it'll be good for him to show Matt that he's good at helping. Fishing's a great skill to have just in general, too. So this way, even if we didn't listen, we not only got food for everyone, we did it on our own so it shows we're helpful and useful!
Which I should have guessed would not be what they thought when we arrived back at the village as evening approached. I knew it before we even got close; I could feel the frustration. We were in trouble. "Teeks," he looked at me, "This isn't going to go how we hoped it would. Someone is so not happy with us right now." If I had to take a wild guess, I'd say Matt.
A shiver went up my spine, but I took a deep breath and stood tall, holding my bucket in one hand and my shoes in the other. I seriously did not want to get yelled at, but I was more than ready to argue back.
They were waiting for us, Matt, just as I'd guessed and... -Tai?!-. They both looked furious.. Matt I could sort of understand, but why in the world would Tai be upset?
"Where were you two? We told you to stay here!" Matt starts it, of course. "No one's seen you for hours. What in the world were you thinking, just running off like that?!"
"What if the Gazemon were still around? Or Etemon? You two would have been in serious danger!" Uh, even with you guys, if Etemon were around, we would have still been in serious danger, seeing as your digimon are- "Whose idea was this?"
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw TK go to move his hand, but there was no way he was taking the blame. "It was my idea." Hello too much attention on me at once. "I wasn't about to just sit around and do nothing while everyone else worked. I convinced TK to come with me." I huffed, "Besides, look at all the stuff we got." Daragumon pointed to the fruit, and TK and I motioned to our buckets.
"That's not the point." Not the point? Not the bloody point?! "You were told to stay here, in the village, and that's what you should have done." I narrowed my eyes at Tai, biting down on my cheek. This was ridiculous.
"You should have known better, TK! Tokomon's still in training and he," Matt pointed to Daragumon, "Only just digivolved to rookie. There's no way you would have been able to protect yourself!" TK was getting mad, I could feel it, but it was nowhere near what I was feeling, "And you shouldn't have convinced him to go with you! If you want to get yourself killed, don't get my brother involved!"
My fists were clenched, I could feel myself starting to shake, and it felt like it was getting hard to breath. This was a mixture of an anxiety attack and serious rage buildup, and it would not be pretty.
Taking in a deep breath, I looked up at the two, not bothering to hide anything I was feeling, "Why the hell are you going off on us like this?! All we were trying to do was help, to show you that we could be useful, no matter how small or young we are!" Tai opened his mouth to speak, but that was not happening, "No! You had your turns now it's mine so keep quiet! We didn't do anything bad or wrong, and we weren't even that far away. We were fishing at the river, about two minutes away, while our digimon gathered fruit. The only "bad" thing that happened was me getting soaked."
I turned to Matt, "I know TK is your brother but guess what, hot-shot, he's a digi-destined too! He's on this adventure, stuck in this world, just like the rest of us, and to be perfectly honest, it's the best time to let him be independent, to learn, because big brother sure won't be there to protect him forever and if all you do is coddle him, then you're going to push him away!"
And now Tai, "You- I don't even know why you're mad! TK's your friend, yeah, but you have absolutely no reason to go off on him, and I don't understand why you went off on me! We aren't babies. We aren't weak, We don't need protecting! And we sure don't need to be berated for doing what we thought was the right thing to do!"
I was breathing heavily at this point, the anxiety beginning to overpower the anger. "We ju-"
"No!" Was I crying now too? Not part of the plan, but neither was the shaking and that was happening as well. "You know what-! Just.. ugh! Screw this. I'm done." They were both in a stunned silence, no idea what to do or say. They obviously hadn't been expecting any type of reaction other than apologies and compliance.
I was done though. They could fight Etemon and Myotismon and the Dark Masters by themselves. If all they were going to do was treat me like a little kid, then I was better off doing Myotismon's dirty work my own way.
I threw down the bucket I had, the water and fish spilling out onto the grass, as I ran, past them, all the way to the forest where I had marked the trees. There were some low branches, and I grabbed on, pushing myself up. If there was one thing I was grateful for about this body was I was small enough to climb trees again without slipping. Mostly.
My foot slipped, once, and I figured that branch was a good place to stop. I was at least ten feet off the ground, and for the most part out of site, so I wouldn't have to worry about someone finding me.
What I did may have been a bit of an overreaction, but I didn't care. Neither of them had any right to be mad at us, and definitely didn't have the right to yell at us. I hated being yelled at. It doesn't get the point across, it doesn't help anything. All it does is make people angry and upset.
The branch was pretty wide, allowing me to sit comfortably, so I pulled my knees up to my chest and silently cried as I watched the sun setting.
-Tai-
Oh man, I didn't mean for that to go down that way. We were worried, that's all. They're just kids... we're all just kids, but it's different! We're bigger and older and have more experience, so it's our job to keep them safe, to get them home in one piece.
I wasn't mad at them, not really, not like Matt. Matt was furious, but I think he was more angry at Theodore than TK. He doesn't know him, so he doesn't trust him. Heck, I'm sure he still doesn't trust some of us. I can tell Theodore's a good kid though. I don't know how, but I just can. He just... he's sad, and lonely, even if he won't say anything, I can see it. I feel like I should look after him, y'know? Since he doesn't have anyone else.
"You yelled at them, huh?" I sighed, nodding, "Not really the best way to talk to someone, y'know, even if you were worried." She was right. She was always right. "I can tell you just want to keep them safe, but they are digi-destined, and they're here, same as us. They may be younger than us, but we have to give them a chance to make their own decisions."
"Theodore said the same thing, sort of." I looked over to her, hesitant, but... "Do you think I should go talk to him? Matt and I have already talked to TK and made up, but Theodore ran off... he was really, really upset, Sora. I think we scared him."
She frowned, turning her attention to the sky, "You might have, Tai. We don't know much about him, about where he's from, or who he is. For all we know, he could have lived happily with a great family, maybe even a brother or sister, but he also could have been living with people who hurt him." Did she mean he... "From how he reacted... I wouldn't think it was good situation." I never would have even thought of that.. Now I really feel like a jerk. "Go talk to him, just, be patient, gentle."
After that she patted me on the shoulder, and went back inside the main house. Everyone had started eating already, the Koromon practically starving... thinking about it, I don't think Theodore's eaten since we got back... actually, I don't think he's eaten since they first got locked up.
That gives me an idea.
Chapter Seven : End
