Mark slowly walked through the unnaturally darkened forest, Falcomon walking beside him. The boy wrapped his arms around his shoulders and shivered, it was so cold here. The Ninja bird Digimon looked up at the boy in worry, "are you okay Mark?" he asked. The dark-skinned boy looked down at his Digimon Partner and tried to smile, "y-yeah, I'm fine, this place is just really cold" he replied. Falcomon frowned, which was hard to do with a beak, "maybe we should find some place to rest? We can continue looking for the others afterwards. Mark nodded, "y-yeah, that's probably a good idea" he replied. Looking around the sandy-blond boy spotted something, "a cave, th-that's perfect!" he cried, teeth chattering slightly.
The two slowly walked towards the cave and went inside. Mark slumped against the wall with a sigh, it was slightly warmer, that was true, but not by much, in fact it seemed to be getting colder. "Hey F-F-F-Falcomon, is it ge-hetting c-colder in here, o-or is it just m-me?" he asked. Suddenly a dark black substance entered the boy, enshrouding his body in darkness. Mark gasped as he was engulfed in Darkness. He felt like he was pulled into a dark abyss. "No, it doesn't feel any colder to me, why?" Falcomon asked, turning back to his partner, and gasped in shock. Mark was enshrouded in a black cloud that covered his whole outline. The Aboriginal boy was curled up in a foetal position with his head in his hands. "Mark, what's wrong?" the bird Digimon asked, walking closer to the boy. He could hear the boy muttering to himself and strained his ears to hear what he was saying.
"Why did I even come here in the first place, it's not like I've actually helped anyone? All I do is cause trouble for everyone. Maybe it would be better if I hadn't come at all" he muttered. "What? No Mark! That's not true you know it's not! You don't cause trouble for everyone, and what about me? I've waited so many lifetimes for you! You're my best friend!" Falcomon exclaimed, gripping the Aboriginal's shoulder and trying to get his attention. "Mark please look at me! Hey! Snap out of it!" the bird Digimon exclaimed, getting really worried now.
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Izumi, Patamon, Kirin and Gatomon walked through the forest looking for the rest of their friends. Kirin was shivering, rubbing his hands up and down his arms, "it's so cold, have you got a signal yet Izumi?" the Uchiwa asked his friend. The blue-haired girl shook her head, "the Digi-Dex isn't working properly, it might be something to do with this world" Izumi replied, looking around, "it's impossible not to get lost in this place! Everything looks the same after all!" she muttered in frustration. "Calm down, getting upset won't help us find our friends" Patamon said, looking down at her partner. Izumi sighed, "I know Patamon, I know- it's just, this place! It's freaking me out!" she replied. Both Patamon and Gatomon nodded, "we feel it too, the evil and darkness in this place is make my fur stand on end!" Gatomon replied.
Izumi zipped up her jacket and pulled the hood up, it was so cold in this place. Suddenly they heard waves. Kirin froze and paled, before running towards the sound, the others following behind. Upon clearing the trees, the blond boy whimpered and stepped back, Gatomon taking his hand in her paw, "why do we keep coming back here! What does it want with me!?" Kirin cried clutching his head as the sound of the waves increased in volume. Izumi wrapped her arms around the boy, "it's okay Kirin, you're not alone, we'll all get through this together" she said softly, trying to comfort him in some way. Patamon looked around, before suddenly spotting something, "hey! That cave wasn't their before, right?" she asked in confusion.
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The two children and Digimon entered the cave, looking around for any Digimon that might attack them. There didn't seem to be anything, but that just made them feel worse. The small group was so tense that the panicked voice that they heard next almost caused them to jump out of their skins: "Mark please, you have to stop!" a familiar voice begged. Izumi, Kirin and their partners rushed towards the sound of the voice and came upon the sight of Mark curled up into a ball, clutching his head with Falcomon shaking him and desperately calling out to the boy, trying to get his attention. "Mark! Falcomon!" Izumi cried as they stopped in front of them. The bird Digimon turned to face the two humans and Digimon, "oh, it's you!" Falcomon cried in relief, tears streaming down his eyes. All four newcomers were shocked.
Maybe they had only known Falcomon for a short time, but even so, he had always seemed so brave and steadfast, none of them had ever seen him cry before. "what's going on?! What's wrong with Mark?!" Izumi demanded. "I don't know, he was talking about it getting colder in here, then all of a sudden this darkness latches onto his body and now he won't even answer me! He just keeps mumbling to himself!" Falcomon replied. Izumi knelt down in front of the boy, "Mark, what's going on? Can you hear me?!" she asked. "Why can I never do anything right? No matter how hard I try, nothing ever changes, why- why do I never learn from my mistakes? That has to be it, that's why no one ever wants to be my friend, they always think I'm crazy. Always alone- wherever I go, I'm always alone" Mark muttered.
"That's not true! You're not alone Mark! You have us and the rest of our friends too! Even in a place like this, we'll always be their for you!" Kirin exclaimed. The Aboriginal boy blinked slowly and looked up, a tear falling down his cheek, "do you, really mean that?" he asked. "Of course we do! Do you think we'd ever abandon you? You're our friend Mark- we're all friends, and we'll always be there to support each other, even if we're apart" Gatomon added, turning to face the others, "right?" she asked. "That's right!" Kirin agreed, "Mark, I understand how you feel right now, a short while ago, I was nearly swallowed up by the darkness to, but with the help of the others, I was able to break free! We're all here to help you" the Uchiwa said. "I know it's scary, I'm scared too, but as long as we're all together, we can make it- because I never abandon my friends! So why would I ever abandon you?" Izumi said with a sincere smile as she held out her hand towards Mark.
"Please Mark, take her hand!" Falcomon begged. The boy seemed to be trying to fight against whatever force was affecting him, but eventually reached out to take the blue-haired girls hand, "thank you all, for being my friends" he said happily. Suddenly a bright red light shone from Izumi's Crest. As it did a blue light appeared in the air above Mark. The combination of the two lights was so bright that it caused the darkness gripping the Aboriginal to dissipate. As the light died down, the cave around them faded away. Slowly the glowing ball of bright blue light floated down towards Mark, who gasped, "this is-" he muttered, taking the glowing form into his hand. Opening his fist, the three children and Digimon were able to see a blue Crest with a shape that kind of looked like a whipper-snipper blade looked at from above.
"This is- the Crest of Friendship" he said in astonishment. As the light from Izumi's Crest began to die down, Gatomon tilted her head in confusion, "but I don't get it, if Mark was the one getting his Crest, why was Izumi's one glowing?" she asked. Izumi smiled, "well, think about it- what goes better with Friendship than Loyalty?" she replied. Everyone smiled happily. "You know, I was feeling horrible just a few minutes ago, but now I feel really happy- I'm really grateful to have friends like you" Mark said cheerfully. "Well, don't get too comfortable, we still have to find the others and get out of here as quickly as possible" Izumi replied. Everyone became serious and nodded, before beginning to walk off in search of their still missing friends.
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Shiro walked through the town, Cutemon at her side, "oh, where is everyone?!" she cried. "I'm tired and hungry- not to mention freezing! Just what is this place?!" the Albino demanded to know. Cutemon looked up at her partner, who was indeed shivering with cold. She frowned and began to unwind her muffler. Shiro suddenly felt a tug at her skirt, "what?!" she snapped. Cutemon flinched back, but she knew that the girl was angry at their situation, not her, so she pressed on, "here" she said, offering her muffler to her partner, causing Shiro's eyes to widen, "you said you were really cold. Well, my muffler can repel even bone deep cold- please wear it until we ger out of her Shiro" she said. The young girl looked from her partner to the muffler then back to Cutemon again, who was already beginning to tremble.
She shook her head, "no, I couldn't, you're already cold Cutemon-" Shiro began, but the rabbit-like Digimon shook her head, "don't worry about me, this is nothing- we don't need you getting sick on top of everything Shiro, please" Cutemon begged. Shiro thought for another minute, before taking the muffler and wrapping it around her neck. She sighed in contentment, "thank you Cutemon, this really helps a lot" she replied gratefully. Shiro pulled the muffler closer to her face, 'it's really soft and warm' she thought. "Now let's go find our friends" Cutemon declared.
To Be Continued