(A/N: IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ! Ok, so, bit of bad news. Due to certain reasons that will take too long to explain, I'm going to be taking a bit of a hiatus from writing. I know, I'm sorry, I'm not happy with this either, but it's really unavoidable. If things go well, I should be back to updating regularly by August. Sorry for the inconvenience, but like I said, it can't be helped. And don't worry, everything is fine on my end, it's nothing serious, there's just something going on right now that I hope to resolve. It's a real pain, and I promise to try and get things back to normal as soon as possible. Until then, enjoy the next chapter.)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 167: The River

Takato threw his hands up in frustration. "I can't take it anymore! I hereby swear to never take the simple things for granted again."

The others stared at him after his sudden outburst. They couldn't exactly blame him though, as they were all feeling pretty much the same as him. In the days since they had faced off against Millenniummon, it had been non-stop walking through borderline deserted land, and quite frankly, it was beginning to get to them.

"Yeah, I think we all do," Tai replied. "These past few days have been pretty tough."

Shoutmon snorted. "You humans are still so soft. We Digimon are used to roughing it most of the time."

"That may be fine for you," Takato grumbled, "but we humans evolved differently. We're out of our natural environment. It's times like this I really wish we were back home."

"I'd settle for a bath," said Kari. "It's been days since we found a body of water big enough to bathe in. I feel so disgusting."

TK plucked at his shirt. "Yeah, and our clothes could use a good washing too."

"You're telling me," Takuya grumbled. "Before we came to this world, I never wore the same underwear two days in a row, let alone for this long."

Davis gave him a confused look. "What do you mean? You can wear the same underwear for four days. Forward, backwards, inside-out, and flipped around." The others stopped walking. Davis noticed and glanced back at them, taking notice of the shocked and disgusted looks on their faces. "What?"

"That may be the most disgusting thing you've ever said," Takato muttered.

"Seriously, never mention that again," said Tai.

"And please change your laundry habits," Kari added.

Davis cocked his head to the side. "Wait, that's wrong?"

Shoutmon let out a cry of annoyance. "Alright, alright, alright! If I take you somewhere where you guys can clean up, will you please stop talking about it?"

Kari clapped her hands together joyfully. "There's a place we can get cleaned up?"

Shoutmon sighed. "If memory serves me right, there's a river a couple miles from here. It should only take us an hour or two to-"

"Let's go!" the others shouted.

The promise of getting clean spurred the teens on, and they put on an extra burst of speed, making it to the river Shoutmon spoke of in record time. After traveling non-stop for days on end without seeing any body of water, it was the greatest sight they could have hoped for, especially with how hot it had been the past few days.

"It's beautiful!" Takato declared, looking at the clear, sparkling water. "Two weeks without a bath is too long."

Tai looked up and down the riverbank. "We should look around first to make sure there are no hostile Digimon before we-"

"Cannonball!" Takuya shouted before jumping straight in with a splash. He came up a few seconds later, rubbing the water out of his face. "Yeow! It's cold!"

"Good, because I'm hot," Takato replied, pulling his goggles down over his eyes. "Geronimo! Yow! Whoa, you're right, that is cold!"

Tai sighed and shrugged. "Ah, whatever." Then he jumped in as well.

Shoutmon placed his hands on his hips. "I thought you wanted to bathe, not swim."

"I feel we can do both," Davis replied. "Belly flop!"

He jumped in as well, but bailed on the belly flop at the last moment, curling in on himself. Takuya pointed at him and laughed. "Ha! You chickened out. That was no belly flop."

"I didn't chicken out. It was just a reflex. And, geez, this is cold. How can it be this hot out and still be this freezing?"

Kari looked down at the water and slowly reached out to touch it. "Is it really that cold?"

She let out a startled yelp as TK suddenly scooped her up in his arms bridal style. "Let's find out together."

"TK, don't you da-"

He jumped in while still holding her, and the cold wetness engulfed them. Bubbles flew out of Kari's mouth from the sudden temperature change, and she quickly kicked to the surface. TK came up beside her, grinning mischievously, and she gave him a look of mock outrage. "TK, you!"

She splashed him. He laughed and splashed her back, and the two got into a splashing contest, laughing and screaming as they unsuccessfully tried to make the other wetter than they already were.

Shoutmon rolled his and turned his back on them. "Humans."

Davis came up behind him. "Oh, come on, Shoutmon." He grabbed the dragon Digimon's tail. "Learn to have a little fun."

A surprised cry escaped Shoutmon as he was yanked backwards into the water. The others laughed as he came up, spitting out a mouthful of water. "That wasn't funny! Do you know how much water went up my nose?"

Takato splashed him in the face. "More than that?"

The teens laughed some more, and Shoutmon's eye twitched irritably. "Alright, you asked for it. Rock and Roller!"

He produced his mic and leapt up out of the water. He brought his mic down on the river's surface, and a large wall of water rose up from the impact before coming down on the teens.

Smirking, Shoutmon twirled his mic around. "Ha! How'd you like that?"

"Oh, yeah," Takuya remarked, and dove under.

He grabbed hold of Shoutmon and pulled him under as well, then began tickling the dragon Digimon. A swarm of bubbles flew out of Shoutmon's mouth as he laughed uncontrollably while trying to escape from Takuya's grip.

What had started out as a simple desire to bathe turned into a playful day of swimming. They alternated from simply relaxing in the water, whose temperature they had gotten used to, to swimming around or playing water games. At one point, Davis took it to the next level by diving to the bottom of the river, grabbing a handful of mud, and throwing it at Takato, who had been beating him in the splashing match.

"Hey, not cool!" Takato cried, looking down at his muddy shirt.

Davis just grinned. "Aw, don't be such a baby. We're gonna wash all our clothes anyway, so we might as well get dirty."

A moment later, a handful of mud hit him in the face, having been thrown by Shoutmon, who smirked. "You've got a point."

And that was how the mud-throwing contest began, and it ended with them all being soaked and dirtier than ever. And by the time they finished, they were all exhausted. A whole day of traveling had been wasted, but they all unanimously agreed that a day of fun was good for their spirits.

But once the play period was over, they still had the job of cleaning themselves up after their mud fight. They decided that the best course of action would be to just remove all their clothes and wash them and themselves all at once, so Kari swam further down the river to give herself some privacy from the boys.

"No going past this rock," she ordered, slapping one of the large boulders protruding from the water. "And looking over here is forbidden."

Tai waved. "Don't worry, I'll knock out anyone who does… Davis!"

"What?" his look-alike objected. "I'm not a peeper."

Kari chuckled, and felt her gaze drawn to TK. He was looking at her as well. With a knowing smile on his face, he wiggled his eyebrows at her. "That no looking rule goes both ways."

Kari blushed, but was smiling as well, and placed a finger to her lips before turning away and swimming farther down the river, staying close to the riverbank. She too had taken part in the mud fight and was just as dirty as the boys.

Stripping out of her clothes, she began washing the mud out of them. She was glad they had taken some soap and shampoo from when they were at the city, and hoped they would be able to make it last for a while. Today though, she was planning to indulge a bit. Usually they were stuck using the rain or smaller bodies of water they came across in order to get clean, so a nice long river to freely bathe and swim around in was nice.

"I'm surprised our clothes have lasted this long without falling apart," she commented as she laid the last of her freshly scrubbed clothes out on a large rock on the shoreline to dry. "I guess there's no bacteria or anything to really decompose things here like there is in the real world, so they last longer."

But she knew that their clothes would get worn out eventually. Maybe they could get new ones somewhere. Digimon didn't seem to wear clothes other than what was part of their forms, but they had to have fabric available somewhere; after all, the clothes Marcus wore couldn't have been the same ones he arrived in thousands of years ago.

Putting thoughts of their wardrobe aside for now, she went about scrubbing herself clean. This simple act was something else she had taken for granted in the real world. Never again would she underestimate the simply luxury of being clean. In fact, there were many things she would no longer be taking for granted once she got back home, and she suspected that her friends wouldn't either.

Once she finished bathing, she leaned against the rock she had laid her clothes out on to dry and closed her eyes. She knew that now that she wasn't moving around that the temperature of the water would make her cold, but she just wanted to relax for a few minutes.

She could hear the boys talking from where they were, but she was too far away to make out what they were saying. The thought that they were all probably naked as well as they washed their clothes made her blush, and when her thoughts turned to TK in particular, her blush deepened.

She was tempted to break her own rule and sneak a peek, and squeezed her eyes shut tighter as she remembered that all the boys would be naked. And the fact that her brother was among them made her reframe from looking.

Sighing, she sank deeper into the water, up to her ears, and began blowing bubbles. The chill of the water was beginning to get to her, and she wondered if her clothes were dry yet. Even if they were still damp, that wouldn't be too bad since it was so hot out. Her shoes though, that was another matter, There was no way they would be dry for several more hours. In fact, all their shoes were going to be wet since in their excitement to get clean, they had all jumped in with their shoes on. Well, she hadn't jumped in, but it was a moot point.

Stretching, she sat up and turned to gather her clothes. She noticed almost immediately that something was missing. Her panties were gone!

Mouth dropping open in indignation, her first thought was that one of the boys had taken them, and she came out from behind the rock to shout at them. "Hey-"

Her call turned into a gasp, and she quickly retreated behind the rock again, her face beet red. She had seen some of them! She hadn't looked long enough to make out who they were, just that she had seen them.

"I'm a pervert," she squeaked, but was suddenly distracted by something several yards away. There, floating down the river, were her panties! They hadn't been stolen, they had simply fallen off the rock, or were they blown off by the wind? Thank goodness she had noticed before she made a fool of herself.

Only now they were floating away! This realization sprung her into action, and she began swimming after her runaway undergarments. She dove under, able to swim faster underwater, and came up beneath them, snatching them out of the water.

"That was close," she commented as she leaned against a rock.

She suddenly became aware that she was being watched, and looked to her left. Sitting on top of the rock she was leaning against was a small creature. She looked at it, and it looked at her, and then it grinned, revealing a mouth full of rose of teeth that looked like they belonged in the mouth of a shark.

A scream escaped her that was heard down the riverbank by the boys. Thinking that she was in trouble, they immediately took off down the river over to where she was.

"Kari, what happened?" Tai exclaimed as he pushed ahead of the others. "Are you ok?"

Kari turned to them, her face turning a darker shade of red, and another scream escaped her, this one for an entirely different reason. She dropped down in the water up to her chin, her arms crossing over her chest and her eyes squeezing shut. "Don't look at me!"

Tai let out a startled cry of his own as it registered to him that the others could see his sister naked. Acting on reflex, he reached out, grabbing hold of Takato and Shoutmon beside him before shoving their heads underwater so they couldn't see while closing his own eyes. "Sorry, sorry, didn't mean it! We heard you scream and thought you were in trouble! What happened?"

"Something's there!" she cried, pointing in the direction she had seen the creature.

From behind his hands, TK peeked through his fingers at the shore. There, sitting on the riverbank, was a small Digimon that looked like a cross between a pig and a hamster. "Who? You mean that little guy?"

"Why'd he make you scream?" Takuya asked. "He's adorable."

He saw a moment later when the Digimon in question grinned again, once more revealing its mouthful of sharp teeth. "Oh, that's why."

Shoutmon gulped down air as he managed to escape from Tai's hold and break the surface. He coughed and sputtered a few times before looking at the Digimon in question. "That's it? That's the big deal? It's just a Tokomon, an In-Training Digimon. He's practically harmless."

"Tokomon X, thank you very much," the lesser Digimon replied.

Shoutmon scoffed as he noted the differences between Tokomon X and a regular Tokomon. "Yes, yes, Tokomon X. He's still pretty harmless."

"With those teeth?" Davis stammered.

The dragon Digimon waved this off. "Don't worry about them. They're mostly for show."

"Unless I use my Bite attack," Tokomon X replied cheekily. "Nom, nom, nom!"

"He's so cute!" Kari practically squealed, no longer fearful of the lesser Digimon.

Takuya cut his eyes at her. "Then why did you scream?"

She blushed in embarrassment. "Because when I first saw him, he was standing just a few inches away, showing off those teeth. I was just startled."

"What are you doing this far downstream anyway?" Tai demanded.

"I had to go get…" Her blush deepened. "It doesn't matter. More importantly, I think you're drowning Takato."

Tai looked at the teen he had submerged on reflex so he wouldn't see his naked sister and saw that Takato was currently floating facedown as bubbles rose up around his head. Tai gave a startled yelp and lifted him out of the water, and a gurgling sound escaped him. Tai patted him on the back, and a bunch of water came out of Takato's nose and mouth before he began coughing.

"You ok?" Tai asked. "Sorry about that."

Tokomon X began laughing. "You guys are funny."

TK glanced at him. "Tokomon X, huh? That means you have an X-Antibody."

"Wouldn't be an X Digimon without one."

Davis raised an eyebrow. "How's a little guy like you get ahold of an X-Antibody?"

"Picked it up after an X Digimon and a non-X Digimon destroyed each other. Thank you!"

Kari suddenly cleared her throat. "In case you've forgotten, I'm completely naked here! So are all of you. Can we please continue this conversation when we're dressed?"

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Tokomon X jumped up and down happily as he circled around the teens.

"I can't believe I found the humans everyone is talking about! I heard so much about you, but I never thought I'd get to meet you! I'm so happy!"

The teens, now dried and dressed, sweat-dropped as the lesser Digimon fanned over them. Once he had realized who they were, he had been generating buckets of excitement, and had been quite insistent on inviting them to his home for dinner. Having been getting by on rations and what they could salvage in the wild, the teens were happy to accept the offer, and were now following Tokomon X to his home.

"Are we sure this isn't some kind of trap?" Takato whispered to the others. "He could be working for the Demon Lords."

Shoutmon laughed at that. "Please, the Tokomon species is so pure and innocent that they'd only ever attack anyone in self-defense or to protect a friend." He grinned mischievously. "Unless you wiggly your hand around in front of his face and his instincts kick in." He chomped his teeth together to get his point across.

Takato cringed. "Maybe, but what if he's another Digimon in disguise. We've run into a few that can take the form of others."

"We can't live our lives walking on eggshells," Tai told him. "But there is such a thing as being too trusting. We'll stay on our guard."

Tokomon X looked back at them. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Nothing!" they all chimed back.

Tokomon X cocked his head to the side curiously, then smiled. "Home's just over that ridge. We'll be there soon. Oh, look, there's Hackmon!"

The teens looked up at the top of the ridge. There was indeed a Digimon at the top of the ridge. It suddenly came charging down towards the group, its movements hostile.

"Um," said Takato as the dragon Digimon charged at them, "is he attacking us?"

Hackmon leapt at them when he was almost at the bottom of the ridge. He landed between Tokomon X and the teens, brandishing his claws at them. "Not a step closer."

Tai held up his hands. "Whoa, hold up, we're not here to cause trouble. Hackmon was it?"

"Yeah, he's a Rookie Digimon," TK replied, reading the dragon Digimon's profile on his Digivice. "His attacks include Fifth Rush, Teen Ram, and Baby Flame. He's a very skillful Digimon with a strong sense of justice and righteousness. Wow, it says he possesses such a masterful sense of combat, especially in close combat, that he can actually hold his own against an Ultimate."

Hackmon breathed a cloud of steam from his nose. "And I'll use those skills on you if I have to, so don't test me."

Tokomon X suddenly ran around them, putting himself between Hackmon and the teens. "Hackmon, don't be mean. These are the humans we heard about. The ones that have been fighting the Demon Lords."

The dragon Digimon scoffed. "Oh, I know exactly who they are. I also know that the Demon Lords are after them. I don't want that kind of wrath coming down on our family. It's bad enough that you already have a target on you with that X-Antibody you've got, we don't need the Demon Lords' direct enemies hanging around us t make it worse."

Whipping his head, Tokomon X slapped Hackmon in the face with his antenna. "You're being rude. I invited them for dinner. It's the least we can do after they defeated four of the Demon Lords."

Davis cleared his throat. "Actually, we defeated five of them. We took out Barbamon not too long ago."

Tokomon X turned to them, his eyes wide. "You beat Barbamon too? How? When?"

"A couple weeks ago," Shoutmon replied with a raised eyebrow. "I would have thought that the whole Digital World would have heard about it by now."

"We're pretty isolated out here," Hackmon told him. "News sometimes takes a while to reach us." He pointed a claw at Shoutmon. "And it's my job to protect everyone. If you're going to bring trouble here, just know that I won't stand for it. It'll be better if you just leave."

Tokomon X turned to him. "Oh, please, Hackmon? Just for one night?"

"No."

"One night."

"I said no."

"Just dinner then?"

"No!"

"Hackmon, what is all the commotion about?"

They all looked up to see a humanoid butterfly Digimon floating down to them. She landed beside Hackmon, and the dragon Digimon backed away from the teens. "I was simply trying to keep everyone safe."

Tokomon X began leaping up and down excitedly. "Hudiemon! Hudiemon! Look! Look! It's the humans who kicked the Demon Lords' butts. They beat Barbamon too! Look! Look!"

The butterfly Digimon gave him a kind smile. "Yes, I see that. Did you thank them for their services?"

Tokomon X froze, looking horrified, then turned to the teens and bowed his head. "Thank you very much!"

Takato sweat-dropped, feeling uncomfortable. "Um, yeah, sure, no problem."

Takuya lowered his voice to whisper to Shoutmon. "Hey, I just thought of something. If Digimon who are at the Baby and In-Training level were once Digimon at a higher level who have been reborn, then why do they talk and act like little kids?"

"Aside from the fact that their brains are underdeveloped at those levels," the dragon Digimon whispered back, "a Digimon's personality typically matches the form they're in, even if they were once at a higher level."

Tokomon X looked back up at Hudiemon. "I invited them for dinner and to spend the night. Can they stay? Please, please, please, please."

A giggle escaped the butterfly Digimon. "But of course. They may stay longer if they wish."

Hackmon closed his eyes. "Hudiemon, that is not a good idea. They have a target on their backs. They may bring the Demon Lords' wrath down on us."

In response, she gently caressed his head. "Hush now. We cannot let the Demon Lords dictate our actions. A little kindness goes a long way. Besides," she looked back at the teens, "these brave humans are putting their own lives on the line for all of our sakes. The least we could do is offer them some hospitality."

A low growl escaped Hackmon, and he turned away. "One night."

Tokomon X let out a happy squeal and began excitedly jumping up and down. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Hudiemon chuckled and motioned for the teens to follow. "Come, humans, you're welcome here. Our home is your home."

She and the reluctant Hackmon then began to lead the rest of the way. It wasn't long before the teens were led to their host's home, which ended up being a small farm on the other side of the ridge, just as Tokomon X said.

It was a peaceful looking place with a large garden that grew all kinds of fruits and vegetables. A small farmhouse was present, and Hudiemon led them over to it.

"Everyone, we have guests!" she called. "Come out and say hello."

From out of the house, four more Digimon emerged. Tokomon X let out a delighted squeal and ran over to them. "Hey, guys, guess what, you'll never believe who I found."

Kari clapped her hands together. "They're all so cute."

Hudiemon smiled. "Allow me to make the introductions. This is Copymon, Kudamon, Spadamon, and Bun."

Tai raised an eyebrow at the last one. "Bun? Not Bunmon?"

Shoutmon nudged him. "Bun is a Rookie level glitch Damemon. He's considered defective since he can't Digivolve, but he can get stronger on his own without Digivolving."

"Technically, Bun isn't even my real name," the caper Digimon replied. "I don't have a real name; Bun is just what I go by."

TK's eyebrows rose. "Interesting. That means he has almost unlimited potential."

Bun thumped his chest. "One day, I'll be able to protect everyone."

Beside him, Spadamon placed a hand on his head. "Don't you worry about that, little buddy, keeping you all safe falls to me and Hackmon."

Shoutmon sweat-dropped. "Such irony."

Kari gave him a curious look. "How so?"

"Spadamon is an Ultimate level weapon Digimon. One of the Legend-Arms in fact. Like I said, ironic since we ended up fighting one not to long ago."

Kudamon crawled up Hudiemon's body and draped himself over her shoulders. "We're honored to have you here, humans."

Copymon stepped forward. "Did you really defeat four Demon Lords?"

"Nope," Tokomon X answered for them. "They beat five of them."

Bun's eyes widened. "Five? Really?"

Takato rubbed the back of his head bashfully. "Well, it was a close battle, but-"

"Cool!"

Davis grinned. "You think that's cool? Just wait until we mop the floor with Lucemon. Our team is strong enough that we've surpassed even him."

Hackmon humped at that. "You're rushing to your doom if that's your attitude. Arrogance will get you killed!"

"Hackmon, hush now," Hudiemon told him. She looked back at the teens. "You'll have to forgive him; he's very blunt. That was actually his way of warning you to be careful."

Tai nodded. "Oh, trust us, we know not to underestimate the Demon Lords. But we do stand an actual chance against them now."

"And we'll be rooting for you," Spadamon replied. "We have faith in you. Now, who's hungry?"

(A/N: So, this was a nice break from things. I know it may seem like a filler chapter, but sometimes filler is necessary to get from one spot to another. But at least our heroes get a bit of a break from things. But how long will that peace last before they're called back to battle? Stay tuned to find out. And once again, unfortunately, it's going to be a little while, but I promise to end this hiatus as soon as possible.)

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New Digimon that appear or are mentioned. Replace the DOT in the link(s) with actual periods.

digimonDOTwikiaDOTcom/wiki/Tokomon

digimonDOTwikiaDOTcom/wiki/Tokomon_X

digimonDOTwikiaDOTcom/wiki/Hackmon

digimonDOTwikiaDOTcom/wiki/Hudiemon

wikimonDOTnet/Copymon

digimonDOTwikiaDOTcom/wiki/Kudamon_(2006_anime)

digimonDOTwikiaDOTcom/wiki/Spadamon

wikimonDOTnet/Bun

digimonDOTwikiaDOTcom/wiki/Damemon