Digimon does not belong to me. This idea would not leave my head until I put it down on the paper. This is an alternative version of Digimon Adventure where Yamato and Taichi did not become chosen children. I wanted to play with the clashes of the other five characters and take their development to new directions. Several plot elements will be changed to fit the mood of this fanfic. I'm working to distribute the spotlight in a fair way for each character. However, if I had to point protagonists, those would be Sora and Mimi. I'm looking forward to see these two girls in the center of the action and watch how they form bonds between themselves and the others. And I have very special things reserved for Jyou, Koushiro and Takeru. Comments are appreciated.

I'm receiving the help of QwertysHuman in the editing of this fic. She does an amazing job and I adore all her suggestions. Thank you very much, Darling.

Chapter 1: Silence in the forest

Devimon was in the core of Infinity Mountain, making the last adjustments to his black gears. He had already placed them all over File Island and was close to putting them to work. He felt a presence behind him and stood up, without turning around to face the intruder.

"Mother waits for you." A feminine voice said.

"Are you not going to greet your brother in a proper manner, Ladydevimon?"

"I don't greet those who are weaker than me." She sneered. Devimon wished he could break her neck but knew he wouldn't be able to kill her.

"What does Mother want? It better not to be about assisting those four against the holy beasts."

"As if Piedmon-sama and the other three would need you for anything." Ladydevimon laughed. "I doubt even think Vamdemon would want you around. Perhaps Etemon needs a new assistant, though."

Devimon finally turned around to face the other. The female digimon did not react to his sudden movement. He could tell that he was not taken seriously in the slightest. Without uttering another word, he let the darkness surround him and take him where he needed to go.

As soon as he arrived there, the loud music invaded his ears:

Quando sono solo

Sogno all'orizzonte

E mancan le parole

Si lo so che non c'è luce

In una stanza quando manca il sole

Se non ci sei tu con me, con me

He was in front of a giant red door in a barely lit corridor. The diabolic being knocked on it once, retrieving his hand before it got burnt. The music that came from the other side was turned down and the cries all around him could be heard once again.

"Bocelli." The voice that came from the other side of the door sounded cheerful. "I really like it."

"With the due respect, Mother, if you summoned me to talk about music-"

"Always so serious, my boy. Just like your older brothers."

Devimon frowned. He deeply disliked when she referred to those digimon as his brothers.

"I called you here, my dear Devimon, to inform you that they have arrived." Her voice was suddenly lower.

"The children?" the other questioned.

"Yes." The Mother confirmed. "Two girls and three boys…"

"If they are on File Island, there are already many dangers that-"

"Have you not finished your gears, my boy?" Her tone became colder.

"Y-yes, I mean, I was just making the final adjustments." Devimon got nervous.

"I completely trust in your talent and hard work." The Mother now had a proud and enthusiastic voice. "You are more than ready. Go there and give them a scare."

"I'll do a lot more than that, Mother." Devimon smiled to himself.

Far from there, Sora opened her eyes and saw the very blue sky above her. She sat up quickly and looked around, realizing she was in the middle of a jungle. There was a big flower next to her. Blinking in confusion, she tried to understand what had happened.

I was in the summer camp and it started to snow… and then there was an aurora and a giant wave…

"Sora!" A childish giggling voice called her. It was someone close by, but the girl could not see the owner of the voice.

"Sora, look at me!" The voice said again. The kid felt something jump in her lap. When she looked down, the girl found the strange flower that had been next to her. But now she realized that the flower had a smiling face.

"I'm so happy for finally meeting you, Sora! I've been waiting for you my whole life!" The flower creature jumped happily. The girl, however, was too shocked to react.

"A flower is talking to me…" She muttered, "… it's a nightmare…"

The small creature frowned after hearing that. Tears formed in its eyes.

"You think I'm a nightmare, Sora?" The flower being began to cry. "Are you not happy to meet me?"

"No, no, don't cry!" The human tried to calm the other down. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I-I'm just confused and thought I was dreaming."

"Oh, it's alright, then." The little one stopped crying, which led Sora to think that she was in front of an easy forgiver. "What are you confused about, Sora?"

"Well, I don't know where I am, how I got here or who you are… or what you are…" The girl examined the other's body and could not understand what it was. It looked like a pink head with small tentacles blossoming into a flower.

"I am Pyokomon, I'm a digimon. This is File Island and you and the others fell from the sky, Sora." The creature explained with a large smile. Unfortunately, that explanation did not help the human child to understand the situation.

"How do you know my name?"

"We've known your names since we were born. The five of us have been waiting for the five of you since ever."

"Five? Do you mean that there are other four people besides me here?" Sora felt relief. It was good to know she was not alone. A noise came from her left and she stood up. From behind a tree a boy she knew stepped into her sight.

"Sora-san!" He exclaimed. "I am so glad; I thought I was alone here."

"Stop speaking nonsense, Koushiro-han." A small digimon with a big face and two little arms, not taller than Pyokomon, appeared next to the boy with red hair. "I'm right here, with you."

"Koushiro-kun, you have a digimon too!" Sora pointed out.

"Yes, that is what Motimon-san said he was."

Sora thought it was funny and out of place for Koushiro to refer to the digimon as "san." On the other hand, she knew that the boy was very polite with everybody in their soccer club, so it shouldn't surprise her.

"Koushiro-han, don't use honorifics with me. You're going to make me mad." Motimon complained, annoyed.

"B-but you are using 'han' with me." The boy contested, embarrassed.

"It's different; it's cute when I say the 'han' but honorifics don't go well with digimon names."

"It really sounds odd to call a digimon using 'san,' don't you think?" Pyokomon asked Sora, who did not want to reply. She did find it strange but the girl did not want to make her kouhai feel inadequate.

"Sorry, if it's bothersome." Koushiro looked down as he said that. "I'll try to drop it."

"Koushiro-kuuun!" A female voice called. A girl in a dress, wearing a big pink hat, ran to where the others were. She was being followed by a tiny green creature with leaves on its head. "Your name is Izumi Koushiro-kun, right? We are in the same classroom, I'm Tachikawa Mimi."

"You are both in the same classroom but you weren't sure about his name?" Sora questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Hey, it's not my fault." Mimi adopted a defensive tone of voice. "He's not very sociable... sorry, I don't think I've been introduced to you."

"I'm Takenouchi Sora, a 5th grader." The older girl introduced herself. "Koushiro-kun is my kouhai in the soccer club, if you're his classmate, then you're a 4th grader, right?"

"Yes, Sora-san. Nice to meet you." Mimi gave Sora a warm and bright smile. The 5th grader thought that the younger girl was probably kind at heart but sometimes spoke without thinking. Mimi lowered her body and picked the tiny green being up.

"This is Tanemon, she said she would protect me and take care of me." Mimi's smile faded as her eyes accumulated tears. "But she doesn't know how to take me back to Earth."

"Earth?! Do you think we are on a different planet?!" Sora let a laugh escape her lips.

"What did you find funny?" Mimi had a dead serious tone. Sora noticed that the younger girl seemed to be offended.

"Sorry, it's just… well… you really think we were abducted by aliens or something?" The 5th grader wanted to apologize but failed at demonstrating regret for what she had said previously.

"Well, we could have!" Mimi raised her voice slightly. "We are in a different world with talking plants saying that they've been waiting for us, after all."

"Mimi, I already said we are digimon." Tanemon said.

"And I don't look like a plant, Mimi-han." Motimon made an observation.

"Sorry if I hurt your feelings." Mimi apologized to both digimon.

"I believe that's a valid theory." Koushiro commented. "We are surrounded by life forms we had never heard of and the vegetation does not resemble anything we have in Japan. Not to mention that I never heard of an island called 'File' before."

Sora was starting to get annoyed at their insistence in that absurd alien theory. What could she expect from kids? She hoped that the other two people in that place were older.

Suddenly, a small white creature with four legs and long ears rushed to their direction, followed by a little boy with blond hair and blue eyes.

"Tokomon, don't run away." The little boy scolded the digimon, picking it up and hugging it against his chest. When the small child realized he had found other people, he beamed with happiness. "You were there with my brother and me, when the lights appeared at the sky! Is my big brother with you?"

"I don't remember ever seeing you in our school." Mimi said.

"That's because I don't live in Odaiba." The boy explained. "I live in Kawada with my Mom. My brother and my Dad live in Odaiba and I was invited to the summer camp so I could spend time with Onii-chan."

"So your parents are divorced?" Koushiro inquired, curious. Sora gave him a disapproving look to let him know that he had been indelicate. The redhead blushed and looked down.

"They… are…" The little boy had a sad look on his face. "Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Takaishi Takeru, second grader, pleased to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too, Takeru-kun." Sora complimented him, showing a friendly smile. "I am Takenouchi Sora, a 5th grader. Those are Izumi Koushiro-kun and Tachikawa Mimi-chan, 4th graders."

"I'm Pyokomon."

"I'm Motimon, nice to meet you."

"You can call me Tanemon."

"I'm Tokomon, Takeru's partner." The white digimon with long ears greeted the others. "Pukamon and his partner are not here yet?"

"That's right, there's yet another person that was brought to this place." Sora recalled her conversation with Pyokomon.

"Maybe it is Taichi-san, he was the one who called us to see the aurora." Koushiro suggested.

"It has to be Onii-chan!" Takeru hoped. Sora felt bad for the boy. Although she wished along with Koushiro that the fifth person was her childhood friend, she felt that Takeru would feel safer if he was with someone he knew and trusted, like his older brother.

When a desperate cry was heard coming in their direction, their expectations were crushed.

"Jyou-sempai?!" Sora exclaimed, a bit disappointed, as the blue-haired sixth grader ran toward her and the others, hysterically.

"IT'S A GHOST! IT'S HUNTING ME!" Jyou screamed. A floating brown creature with what looked like fins was following him.

"Jyou-san? Oh, I remember now, he was our group leader in the camp." Koushiro commented. "It is fortunate that he came too."

"You haven't spent a lot of time with Jyou-san, have you?" Mimi giggled.

"Jyou-sempai! It's alright, you're not being hunted by a ghost." Sora tried to calm the older boy down. "It's a digimon, each of us has one too!"

Jyou blinked and looked around, trembling at the sight of the other creatures.

"Are they demons?" Jyou asked, frightened. "Are they punishing me for coming to the camp instead of staying home and dedicating myself to my studies?"

"No, they're aliens." Mimi said.

"Enough with the alien theory already, please." Sora sighed.

"Are you fonder of the demon theory, Sora-san?" Mimi inquired sheepishly.

The ground was violently shaken and the children fell to their knees.

"Now there's an earthquake?!" Jyou was getting more stressed.

Koushiro pointed to something above them.

"Look at those things coming from the mountain!"

The mountain? Is there a mountain here? Sora wondered, looking at the direction the boy with red hair had indicated. There was a huge and solitary mountain that could probably be seen in the entire island. Its peak was releasing black things that quickly covered the sky. One of the objects fell close to where they were. It was a big black gear.

"Why are there gears coming out of the mountain?" Takeru questioned, visibly scared.

"I don't know but we should find shelter, if we're hit by one of those things we'll die." Jyou had urgency in his voice.

"Everybody, follow me!" Motimon shouted. He led the children and their partners to a tree and passed through it.

"Is that a hologram? Or is it only intangible at certain points?" Koushiro asked to no one in particular.

"WORRY ABOUT THAT LATER, GET INTO THE TREE!" Jyou pushed him inside and jumped along. Soon, everybody was in the tree. The sound of large metallic objects hitting the ground at full force was disturbing. Takeru began to cry in fear so Sora hugged him.

"We're safe here, Takeru-kun, don't worry."

The girl looked around and noticed that everybody seemed to be afraid. She felt that she had the responsibility to comfort them.

"Whatever is happening is going to pass soon. No need to worry."

"It's gear rain! This isn't normal." Jyou was muttering to himself.

"I want to wake up. I want this to end." Mimi cried.

Koushiro was just staring at the wall without saying anything. His eyes were wide open.

"Guys, we're going to be okay. This tree is shielding us." Sora attempted to cheer them up. Maybe if I can make them think about something else, she thought. "Uhm, Jyou-sempai, what's your favorite subject in school?"

Jyou first looked at Sora as if he thought she was crazy, but then he seemed to understand what she was trying to do. He took a deep breath and forced a smile. "I like to study everything. There's nothing more enjoyable than homework."

The other children stared at Jyou.

"There are not adults around, you can answer that honestly." Mimi taunted.

"I'm always honest, Mimi-kun!" Jyou got offended. "Are you saying that you don't like to study?"

"Most people don't find that an enjoyable activity." Mimi replied. "I mean, when one thinks about fun, it got to be about hanging out with friends, shopping or watching old shows with your Dad."

"Ugh, I shouldn't be surprised." Jyou had a severe look. "Honestly, you should become more responsible, Mimi-kun."

The comment annoyed Mimi.

"I'm a good student. I have excellent grades."

"Are you in top of your class? That's something you should work forward if you intend to go to a good high school and then a good college." Jyou had a proud and malicious grin.

"Koushiro-kun is in my class, how is anyone else supposed to be at the top?" Mimi acted as if she was commenting the obvious.

"That's not an excuse, I bet Koushiro-kun works very hard to be at top of the class!" Jyou turned to Koushiro. "How many hours per day do you study?"

The redhead did not seem comfortable to be brought into the conversation.

"Uhm… do you mean how many hours I study school subjects?" Koushiro questioned, cautiously.

"Yes, how many hours?"

Koushiro had an awkward expression and Sora wondered if he would run away if there was not a deadly rain outside.

"I review the subjects the night before the tests…" Koushiro's voice was almost inaudible.

Jyou's face became very pale and he did not speak anything.

"Jyou, are you alright?" Pukamon tried to make his partner react.

"Jyou-sempai, are you feeling ill?" Sora was concerned.

"I'm not hearing anything outside any longer…" Koushiro said, looking away. "Maybe I should take a look-"

"You don't study?!" Jyou finally found the words.

"I learn fast… I don't feel the need to review things many times."

"You don't study?! B-but you are always on the computer!"

"I like to learn new things, so I spend more time researching them than reviewing what I already know…"

"YOU ARE AT THE TOP OF YOUR CLASS AND YOU DON'T STUDY?!" Jyou lifted his arms above his head in a sign of disbelief. "Good grades should be the result of hard work! You are telling me that you get them with no effort?! You can fool around every day and just study at the last minute and you still manage to get better results than dedicated students?"

"I'm sorry." Koushiro frowned. He took a step back.

"Don't apologize, Koushiro-kun!" Mimi was now angrier than before. "You didn't do anything wrong. Jyou-san doesn't get to tell us what to do with our time!"

"Jyou-sempai, don't you think you are overreacting?" Sora scolded the older boy.

"What?! Do you think this is fair?" Jyou was not willing to back down. "This is so wrong! It's unjust! He should be ashamed of himself!"

"I'm going to check outside." Koushiro muttered, passing through the tree wall along with Motimon. Mimi and Tanemon followed him immediately. Sora let go of Takeru and went to Jyou, furious.

"Seriously, Jyou-sempai? Did you really have to do that?"

"I was just expressing my opinion!"

"You and I are the oldest ones in this group; we should be taking care of them, not bullying them!"

"I was trying to help! I was giving valid advice so they could grow to become responsible adults."

Jyou's behavior reminded Sora of a certain adult she had in her life and that displeased her immensely. Takeru, who had been quiet the whole time, decided to speak:

"Excuse me, shouldn't we go after Mimi-san and Koushiro-san?"

"I can't hear anything outside. It's probably safe to go." Sora took Takeru's hand gently and went outside with him. Takeru was holding Tokomon and Sora held Pyokomon with one arm.

Alone with Pukamon, Jyou started to feel the weight of his own words.

"Why did I say those things? This was not the time to do that."

"If you apologize, it'll be okay." Pukamon tried to cheer the boy up.

"I think you're right."

Jyou and Pukamon left the tree and found a desolated place. There were many trees down and black gears on the ground. A few steps away, the other children were approaching a giant red stag beetle lying on the grass. Many gears were stuck on its back and the big insect made an agonizing noise.

"We should do something to help, it's suffering!" Mimi sounded as if she was about to cry.

"It's a Kuwagamon, Mimi-han. It's known to be a violent digimon, we shouldn't approach it." Motimon alerted.

"It's in pain…" Takeru said, upset. "Can't we do something, Sora-san?"

"I don't think we can heal its wounds, Takeru-kun." Sora wished she could console him and Mimi somehow.

Jyou approached the enormous digimon and tried to peek on its back. He believed that, in the current situation, the right thing to do would be to give a merciful death to the Kuwagamon. But the boy knew that if he suggested such a thing, the group would isolate him even more. He needed to make amends and earn their trust. And he also needed to put that living being out of its misery.

"There is something we could try," Jyou spoke, looking at the insect as he put all his effort in sounding convincing. "If we take out the gears and cauterize the wounds with fire, the Kuwagamon might stand a chance."

"Do you want to burn it?" Mimi asked, horrified.

"It could work." Koushiro said. But there was something off in his voice. It did not have the usual glee present when he talked about things he found interesting. His voice was morbid, deprived of sentiment.

Sora was not sure about that idea. However, there was not time to discuss it. The stag beetle rose itself from the ground and threatened the children with its giant scissors.

"It's going to attack, everybody go back to the tree!" Pyokomon screamed. All the digimon jumped to the front and attacked Kuwagamon with bubbles. The insect advanced and almost smashed Tanemon and Motimon with one of its legs.

"Why is it attacking us? We want to help!" Mimi was confused.

"It's a hurt animal, Mimi-chan. It's probably terrified of us." Sora explained.

"To me it looks angry." Jyou disagreed.

"It's breathing with difficulty, it'll collapse soon." Koushiro informed.

"Tokomon!" Takeru called his partner. "Come back here, it's dangerous."

"We can easily outrun it, there's no need to fight!" Sora observed.

"But, Sora-san…" Mimi was going to protest.

"I'm sorry, Mimi-chan. We need to put our safety first now!" Sora apologized. Nevertheless, she knew that the most important thing was to protect everybody. "Pyokomon, you and the others have to come with us!"

"We have to protect you, Sora." Pyokomon stated.

"There's no need for it!" The older girl was losing her patience. "We can run!"

"It's not just your bodies that we have to protect." Motimon affirmed.

"There is something more precious. Something you already realized, Mimi." Tanemon told her partner.

"Kuwagamon is a violent digimon and yet, when you saw him in pain, you wanted to help him. We will do that, Takeru." Tokomon promised.

"Pukamon…" Jyou pleaded. His digimon smiled confidently at him.

"Don't worry, Jyou. We'll succeed." Pukamon assured.

The five little digimon stood in front of Kuwagamon, who tried to trap them in its scissors.

"Kuwagamon might be slow and weaker but it still overpowers all of you!" Koushiro had desperation in his voice now.

The five digimon jumped in Kuwagamon's direction when it was ready to attack.

"TANEMON!" Mimi cried.

"TOKOMON!" Takeru shouted.

"MOTIMON!" Koushiro screamed.

"PUKAMON, NO!" Jyou begged.

The sight of the flower digimon approaching the scissors of the stag beetle made Sora's heart ache. Without thinking, she took a step forward and called for the digimon.

"PYOKOMOOOOON!"

Bright white light enveloped the digimon and they changed their forms.

Pyokomon now looked like a pink bird.

Motimon resembled a ladybug.

Pukamon's appearance reminded the one of a seal.

Tanemon had become a big plant with a flower at the top of the head.

Tokomon was now flying, using his ears as wings. His body was slightly bigger, covered in orange and white fur.

Their combined attacks were fast. Those who used to be Pyokomon, Motimon and Tokomon flew above Kuwagamon and attacked the black gears with spiral fire, electricity and air bubbles. The one that was Tanemon immobilized Kuwagamon with the ivy that came from her hands. And that who used to be Pukamon made Kuwagamon lose the balance and fall to the ground.

As soon as that happened, particles broke off its body.

"We were not able to save him." The pink bird lamented.

"Sorry." The plant digimon uttered.

Four of the children stood in their spots in silence. Mimi walked to the dying Kuwagamon and put her hands on one of the scissors.

"We're sorry that we couldn't save you. But now you won't feel pain or fear. And we won't leave you alone."

Kuwagamon turned completely into particles that were carried away by the wind.

Mimi did not stop the tears from running down her face.

Jyou covered his mouth with one hand and stared at the ground.

Takeru went to where the flying orange digimon was and hugged him.

Koushiro observed the point where Kuwagamon had been. He felt his eyes becoming more humid and his hands trembled.

Sora closed her eyes and gulped. She thought about what she could do but no idea came to her aid. She wished to find the words that would make the others feel better, but they remained lost. It was Pyokomon, now a bird, who broke the silence:

"I know a Pyokomon village not too far away. They could give us food and shelter."

"Let's go there, then." Sora decided.

The five chosen children and the five digimon walked through the desolation.

They had begun a life-changing adventure.