Thanks to all having read this far. And... if you've forced yourself to get this far, don't. There's no point reading fanfiction if you don't enjoy it... which I found out the hard way when trying to research other fanfics in the same setting as mine. I need inspiration and ideas, but at the same time... ugh. Can't decide.

I wanted to upload my chapters in groups of 6 before this, but now I'm not going to bother. A group of six chapters is - well, six times harder to do than one.

Thanks to all reviews so far. Any that aren't flaming/destructive criticism are much appreciated, and I'm lucky that I haven't received any thus far.

Disclaimer: I don't own digimon. And I don't wish I did, either... only have the right to change basically everything. I guess that's not possible, huh?

Chapter 13

A Gem among Garbage

'You again!'

Yuji shook his fist at the red dinosaur, who was once again pestering him for bread. Yuji admired his persistence though, especially just for a bit of pastry. Unfortunately, several of his customers sitting down had already been scared away by his distant presence, though some stuck around to see what all the commotion was about.

Yuuko and Susumu had tried to stop Guilmon from visiting the bakery, coming to collect him after figuring out where he always went, but after the seventh time of him sneaking out they gave up. Guilmon was just too determined to look for new bread.

As Yuji had seen Guilmon approaching, he went to stop him before he entered the bakery. It didn't stop the onlookers, however.

'Please, mister?' Guilmon pleaded. 'The only bread I can have right now is... well, boring and kinda dry, and I'm not-'

Yuji sighed. 'Look, I'm sorry, but I can't serve you Digimon, or whatever you are. The health inspectors, especially, will begin asking questions about you and your little grimy friends. My business could be shut down!'

Guilmon's ears drooped and then slunk off slowly, seemingly beaten. Yuji felt a little sorry for him, as he thought Guilmon was nice for a strange little dragon, and could make a good customer; but it was too big of a risk. Especially given how many things he'd knocked over this time around with that large tail.

As Guilmon rounded the corner, he peeked back around, trying to figure out another way to get his hands on that bread. He sniffed the air, and could discern the main source of the smell, being the bread on display and intense scents from the inside. But he also smelled some of the same coming from the back of the store, mixed with something else.

Is that... garbage? Yuck! But...if there's no other way to get that bread... hopefully someone threw away a nice enough slice.

Guilmon then snuck his way behind the bakery, so Yuji wouldn't see him as he attended to his other customers. As Guilmon saw a large rectangular dumpster, he covered and wrinkled his nose at the smell coming through the closed lid. Eugh... so much for fresh stuff. I'd hoped to find something new, but... it might make me too sick to be worth it.

After a few minutes of searching, it was clear Yuji's customers were seldom wasteful with their orders. There was little left edible in that pile of garbage; almost nothing but clean containers (relatively) and large bags sealed up.

After a short while of looking, not touching, Guilmon glimpsed a patch of fluffy white on the pile in the dumpster. Mmm... that looks good enough. He jumped on the dumpster and clamped his teeth on it, softening its impact as he wanted the thing intact.

'OW!'

The fluffy pastry squirmed in his grip. Surprised, Guilmon let go. He watched the fluffy pastry wriggle out of the pile and brush off some dirt indignantly. His full form revealed, Guilmon saw the little white digimon with big white ears, and big, playful green eyes. His large ears had purple edges along with the bottoms of his feet. The most peculiar characteristic was the symbol of the Zero Unit on his forehead, a large red triangle with a dark triangle as its backdrop. He frowned up at his attacker indignantly.

'What'd you do that for, you big meanie!? I should-'

Calumon looked up at Guilmon with big eyes. As he recognised his old friend, his ears expanded and he jumped with glee.

'Hi Guilmon! Long time no see!'

Guilmon sniffed closely at Calumon, causing him to giggle as Guilmon's nose tickled his stomach. Guilmon quickly stopped and leaned back with a disappointed look on his face.

'You sure you're not a pastry?'

'No silly!' Calumon laughed. 'But I guess you had the same idea I had? Some of those kids told me this place has the best baked food! Good thing this place is so dark; it was hard to get away from them!'

Guilmon glanced backwards as if someone was watching them. 'Did you ask that baker for some? He wouldn't let me near the store this time...' He sighed heavily. 'And I tried so hard...'

Calumon cocked his head. 'Huh? What's a baker? I thought this was the place to get the food. Free food? Free food?'

Guilmon snickered as Calumon called his last phrase repeatedly, still sifting through the garbage despite how dirty it was making him. Then he raised his head, quickly remembering that everyone was looking for him.

'Hey! I just remembered; Calumon, there are a bunch of guys and their digimon trying to find you!'

Calumon shrank back a little. 'They aren't... bad digimon, are they?' He asked rather fearfully.

Guilmon shook his head encouragingly. 'No, not really... they're actually very nice. They need you for something big, but I can't remember what it was... exactly. You should come with me and see them.'

Calumon jumped off the dumpster with Guilmon. 'OK, let's go! Maybe they can have nicer garbage, hee hee!'

Tai couldn't sleep all night. He still couldn't believe what had just happened, like he'd just had a very real nightmare. The pain he saw in Agumon's eyes made it far too obvious that something about their bond had gone terribly wrong.

This feels... familiar somehow. I guess it's similar to when Matt decided to leave... but the situation then was completely different. Matt left because he thought TK didn't need him anymore, and kinda resented me. Agumon basically left for something similar - he feels kind of useless now, but... did he really believe that he was dangerous? Agumon... I know you only want to protect us. But if anything were to happen to you, it would hurt me more than you could imagine...

'Tai? Tai!'

Matt was shaking him gently as he lay in his sleeping bag. 'It's dawn. Sorry, Tai, but we should really get going.'

Gabumon studied Tai as he sat up. He was still gripping his wound in pain, and his eyes were bloodshot and had small dark patches under them. Gabumon quickly guessed that Tai wasn't in a rush to leave, in case Agumon wasn't really leaving and decided to come back for him. He understood, because he felt the same way. It was as if a large cloud had passed over the forest when he left, and everyone was rather subdued; even Davis. 'Do you want to talk about what happened?' He asked Tai gently. He didn't answer, and continued staring into his makeshift pillow silently.

Matt sighed. 'I'm not sure he'll come to his senses unless we do...' He then grabbed Tai and sat him up. 'Tai, listen to me! Snap out of it!'

Tai just continued staring downwards, a morbid frown adorning his brow. Matt sighed heavily.

'Tai, what happened wasn't your fault, or Agumon's, or anyone's, except maybe Alphamon. There's no point in moping now, because that doesn't help him, yourself, or anyone.'

Tai blinked and looked up at Matt slowly.

'The best we can do for him now is to find Calumon, so we can stop Alphamon and AbyssGreymon! Agumon will be safe if we can find a way to stop them. If you care about Agumon so much, you, of all people, should know what we need to do. Keep going.'

Tai eyes focused on Matt, and conviction slowly returned to his eyes. 'For Agumon... I would do almost anything to make sure he's safe.' Tai stood up as Matt let him go and managed a wry grin. 'Thanks Matt. I needed that... and I'm glad you didn't have to punch me this time around.'

Matt gave a small smile. 'What are friends for? Come on.'

The others were still arguing over what to do about Agumon, but the discussion never went in that direction for long, and instead dithered towards Agumon's motives, and sometimes, his sanity. Davis was still roaming that subject when Matt, Tai and Gabumon returned, who slipped back in without too much notice apart from a nod from Renamon.

'What was he thinking?!' Davis paced in frustration. 'He's only going to get himself killed! We've got to go after him.'

Kari could only frown at the ground sadly. 'We've been through this, Davis. I admit, Agumon's complicated our mission... but the best thing for us to do is find Calumon first. Once we can defend ourselves against Alphamon and AbyssGreymon, we can worry about finding Agumon... as hard as it is to admit...'

'But Kari, Agumon's the one in real danger!' Davis objected in exasperation. 'Remember that Alphamon said he seemed to want to get rid of Agumon first.'

Renamon twitched her ears. 'So what do you propose we do against AbyssGreymon? Even if we did find Agumon, AbyssGreymon will find us eventually as he hunts around. Not to mention that Agumon is more than likely unwilling to cooperate in this case.'

Kari sighed. 'Davis, you can't force Agumon to come with us. I know that he's our friend, even like a brother...' Her lip trembled slightly. '...and that we have to protect him... but there isn't an easy way to do that anymore without endangering everyone else.'

'Think about it, Davis.' Renamon began. 'Agumon is a far more elusive target than a large group of Digidestined. Since he's got Tai's digivice, he has the same chance to avoid encounters with AbyssGreymon as we do. But AbyssGreymon is far more likely to spot us than Agumon. Alone, he may be safer than you think.'

Davis folded his arms. 'I still don't think it's a good idea to let him be. I don't think it was right for him to just leave like that, even if he did hurt Tai...'

Renamon sighed and closed her eyes as Tai glanced down at his bandaged side. 'It doesn't matter if it was right or not; it was the best option from his perspective. Apart from the... accident itself. '

Kari looked as Tai, Matt and Gabumon arrived. 'You all right, big brother?'

Tai nodded slowly, grinning. 'Matt... gave me a bit of a talking to. Without the punching, for once.'

Davis gave Tai a small smile, but frowned a little. 'How much did you hear?'

Tai's grin fell slightly. '...enough.'

'So...' Davis said nervously, 'do you have any advice? Or have you made a decision about what to do?'

Tai looked around at them all slowly. 'I suppose...Agumon... did what he thought what was best for all of us.' He gathered his thoughts and picked his words carefully, even those he didn't know were true. 'He made a sacrifice, so that we could be safe... I don't know if his fear of hurting us was really justified, but I guess that doesn't matter now.' He nodded affirmatively. 'What matters now is that we continue our mission, for the sake of the digital world, the real world, and Agumon.' Tai took a deep breath. 'So... we try even harder... to find Calumon, and to find out how to stop Alphamon and AbyssGreymon.'

Yuuko was unhappy with the smell coming off Guilmon as he returned from his last bakery raid. However, she quickly forgot about scolding him as soon as she beheld Calumon riding on the red dinosaur's head.

'Aw, what a cutie!'

Calumon giggled as Yuuko scratched him around the ears and under the chin and proceeded to tickle him. When Yuuko finally stopped, Calumon sat there, panting breathlessly after so much laughter and sighed as he caught his breath again. 'Why do humans keep tickling me so much? It might not look like it, but it hurts!'

Yuuko looked ashamed as she bowed her head apologetically. 'Oh, I'm sorry dear... I just couldn't help myself. You're just so adorable!' She gave a contorted grimace, remembering Myotismon's attack and his minions. 'Especially compared to many digimon I've seen...'

Guilmon's ears drooped slightly. Seeing this, Yuuko smiled scratched behind his ears too.

'Don't worry Guilmon; you're plenty cute too!' She then caught another whiff of garbage from both of them, covering her nose and waving the air. 'Ugh! But for all your cuteness; you both just love to play in dirt and other smelly things... well you can't have everything I suppose...I think I know what to do about it.'

Guilmon blanched as he caught her meaning, but Calumon smiled innocently. 'Are we going to do something fun? Anything that involves eating ice cream? I love that stuff!'

'Oh no, not eating, but it should be... just as fun!'

Susumu had been watching from the side, before clearing his throat, causing Calumon to turn towards him inquisitively.

'So what's your name, little guy?'

'Calumon!'

Susumu studied him for a moment before lowering his head and whisper into Yuuko's ear. 'You know that Tai would want to know about him... he matches their description perfectly.'

Yuuko put her hand over her mouth. 'I completely forgot about that mission of theirs! I should tell Tai right away!'

'You know they're out in the digital world right now, right? We should call one of his friends that are still in the real world and get him to them ASAP.'

Yuuko looked quite disappointed. 'Oh, but – I wanted to spend some time with Calumon, at least... Tai and the others will grab him immediately.'

Calumon and Guilmon cocked their heads at the two whispering to each other. 'Guilmon...' Calumon pointed a stubby white arm up at them. 'Why do adult humans do that so much? Talk mumbo jumbo so no one can hear? They do lots of weird stuff...'

Guilmon scratched his head. 'I dunno - I don't get it either. The grown-ups do it a lot.'

Biyomon and Sora were sent to scout the valley as she had suggested, but they couldn't find any leads towards Calumon or Agumon throughout the next day. In fact, none of them had any luck, and by the end of it, once again, they felt that they had gotten nowhere at all. They felt quite discouraged that all they had gained was a runaway digimon. That night, they sat around another fire, wondering what to do next. After some discussion, it was clear that there were no obvious solutions to their problem as their choices didn't hold any guarantee of progress.

Renamon had repeatedly tried to sense any digimon presences throughout their. It wasn't until that night that she actually felt something significant as she momentarily breached the barriers within the forest.

'Everyone, be quiet!' She silenced them as she focused on the presence. It's faint, but... there is someone here - a digimon. And, if I can concentrate hard enough, I may be able to lead everyone to it.

She opened her eyes and found everyone staring at her. 'Well?' Ken asked.

'I can sense something... it's faint, but it's a start.'

Tai smiled. 'Finally! Something to go on! Can you lead us there, Renamon?'

Renamon nodded. 'I can, but... don't get your hopes up.'

In the darkness, it was incredibly difficult for Renamon to navigate her way through the forest, and even harder for the rest of the group to keep pace with her. She had to remember to stop every now and then, as the others didn't possess the same sense of balance and direction as she did. It took them a good hour before she finally stopped in front of what seemed like an abnormally large tree.

'Where is it, Renamon?' Davis looked around cautiously. 'We better be ready for an attack. Veemon?'

Veemon just shook his head, unable to detect any digimon nearby. Many of the other digimon had the same reaction.

Renamon focused on the presence, apparently right in front of her. 'What's going on? It should be right here, and yet I can't see or hear anything of the digimon... just the tree trunk.'

After waiting for a minute, a soft, but firm voice suddenly reverberated throughout the forest, seemingly from the plant before them. It felt much louder as it echoed through their heads as well as their ears.

'I see you will not leave on your own. Who are you, humans, and digimon alike? Why do you come to this place?'

The Digidestined looked up towards the tree. Tai spoke up guardedly. 'We simply came here looking for a digimon by the name of Calumon. We mean you no harm.'

The voice was silent. Then, slowly, a light emanated from the tree trunk and a large glistening figure emerged. She was a fairy digimon, with a gold crest and purple flower covering her eyes. She was brandishing two staves in a guarded stance as she hovered down to the ground, revealing her size was much the same as an adult woman's.

'I am Lotosmon. You say you mean no harm? Many have said the same... but their deeds did not match their words. Many of which I destroyed.'

'What? Did you... kill innocent digimon?' Tai asked guardedly.

Lotosmon shook her head. 'I don't kill digimon for trespassing. But there were some who came here seeking to damage this place and exploit its secrets. Those were the ones I destroyed.' She inclined her head across the frightened faces. 'I do not enjoy it, but I would do anything to protect this sacred place.'

The Digidestined tensed. 'What will you do to us?' Renamon asked.

Lotosmon examined them all, taking particular note of their digivices. 'You are... Digidestined, are you not? If you do not seek to harm this place, I have no quarrel with you.'

Matt frowned, not showing his slight relief. 'So who were some of these... digimon, who wanted to harm this place?'

'Mainly sinister digimon such as Arukenimon, or the horrible Argomon... one of the toughest battles of my life, but I bested even him. Most digimon who come here seek power, and they believe that this place holds enough data for any digimon to digivolve fully into their most powerful form. Most are not even worthy of such power.'

Ken examined her with slight awe. 'You're some type of guardian? You don't remember me, by any chance?'

Lotosmon nodded. 'I have guarded this place for as long as I can remember... though most of that time I believe I was sleeping or dormant, and not conscious of corporeal events... events of late have forced me to keep a watchful eye. I remember your... aura, would you say, but you didn't pry too deep to garner my attention.'

Sora nodded to herself. 'Recent events... you're talking about the increased number of rogue digimon, right?'

Lotosmon looked surprised. 'That is what you call them? Indeed, they fit the description...' She shook her head. 'But I digress. That is not why you're here, is it? What digimon were you looking for again?'

Biyomon glanced downwards dejectedly. 'Calumon is his name... but, Agumon, one of us, recently left as well... '

Recognition seemed to flash across Lotosmon's face, her head rising slightly. 'Was that him? That presence... his spirit burned brightly. Why would he leave you? He didn't seem the type for a coward.'

'He's not!' Tai retorted. 'He only left because he believed he was protecting us!'

Lotosmon paused, and then inclined her head. 'Forgive me. But I am not used to dealing with most digimon. But that digimon I sensed leaving; he was no ordinary digimon.'

'Did you see him?' Gabumon questioned. 'What did he do? Where did he go?'

Lotosmon shook her head as she explained. 'It was easy to track him while he was here, but I cannot sense him now. On that night, when I presumed he left, he travelled deep into the neighbouring valley near the river, and stayed there for a few hours; I assume to sleep. Unfortunately, he crossed into the desert earlier today, where the river itself ends.'

Tai frowned worriedly. 'What do you mean, unfortunately? He basically lives in a desert.'

Lotosmon adopted a grim tone. 'That he entered that desert means that he will likely have no food or water for days, on foot. That one is one of the most expansive in the Digital World. But fear not,' she reassured them as she beheld their worried expressions, 'I don't think something like a three day fast is enough to stop him. There's something about him...' A Sovereign's mark seems to be imprinted - a digicore, perhaps... but I am unsure what that truly means as of yet.

Tai sighed. 'Thank you... but we don't know if we'll ever see him again. I hope I do...'

Lotosmon inclined her head. 'I wish you luck in your search, and eventual reunification with your partner.'

Ken sighed. 'So, what about Calumon? A fluffy white one?'

'Calumon?' Lotosmon tapped her chin. 'Calumon... Ah yes. That strange little digimon... I basically ignored him, since all he did was call for the digi-gnomes, but they do not often come out. Oh, they indeed live here, but they have little cause to enter the corporeal world. They did appear for him, and stayed for some time. It was very strange, but I left them alone. The digi-gnomes are easily startled, even by me.'

'Do you have any idea where he is now?' Ken asked.

Lotosmon shook her head. 'I did not pay attention. And I doubt he would just blurt out his travel plans to digi-gnomes, so they will be no help even if they did appear for you.'

Tai sat down, feeling suddenly lost. 'Great. Will we ever find him? I don't know-'

Matt's digivice then began flashing. 'What?' Sora asked.

Matt read the message. 'It says Calumon has been found! From Izzy!'

The group roared with elation. 'Finally!' Tai exclaimed ecstatically. 'Where should we go?'

'Izzy says to meet them in the Digital City hall.' Matt's eyes widened as he read further. 'And get this - Guilmon was the one who found him.'

Renamon looked especially startled. 'Really? I don't believe it...'

Lotosmon retreated back into the tree, fading as she did so. 'Good luck then, Digidestined...farewell. And, I'd appreciate it if you kept knowledge of this place to yourselves...'

Tai nodded. 'We will. Thank you, Lotosmon.'