A/N: Sorry for the long wait time this time. I've wanted to work on this, but life's been pretty hectic lately, and I've haven't had much energy or time to write. Things have calmed down for a bit, so I'm hoping I can continue working on this story in a timely manner. Take this extra long chapter as an apology.
Do I Need A Reason?
Luckily for Jaune and the others, the fall was pretty uneventful, and further more, one of the fallen debris was large enough to fit all of them, so they all made their way to the debris. All except for one. "Sun, try swimming over here!" Jaune heard Ruby yell out towards the only person not on the 'raft.' Sun was currently swinging his hands in every direction, almost like he wasn't even trying to swim, almost like he-
"Guys, I don't think he can swim." Ren said, voicing Jaune's fears. Jaune looked around for anything that could help them, anything he could use. "Falcomon, or Poromon, or whatever you're called now, do you think you can fly over and, um, pull him over to us?" Jaune lacked confidence when he voice his request, he wasn't quite sure his idea would work. "Its possible, but with the way he's swinging his arms, I might end up harming him, or he might drag me into the water. I'm afraid I'm not the greatest swimmer either." Came Falcomon's reply, who's currently flapping his wings, using wind to dry off the others. "Ok, just give me a moment. Um, umm, oh! I'll, uh, swim over to him, calm him down, and then you can, uh, grab onto my hood, and drag us back here. If you don't mind that is?" Despite having a plan, and no reason to believe that Falcomon wouldn't agree to help, his voice still refused to show a tiny bit of confidence. "You shall have my aid."
Jaune dove into the water, swiftly making his way over to thrashing faunus. This situation, in some weird way, reminds of him going to the beach with his younger siblings. As he got close to Sun, the boy kept thrashing and swinging his arms around in every direction, preventing Jaune from getting closer. "Sun! It's me, Jaune! Calm down! We're here to help you!" But Sun's panic and thrashing prevented him from hearing him. 'Looks like I have no other choice.' Jaune forced his way through Sun's arms, earning a few punches in the face, but he managed to wrap his arms around the other boy, stopping Sun's panic. "Its me, Jaune. Calm down, we'll get you out of here. Just hold onto me, and we'll pull you out, okay? Just don't let go." Sun just nodded at Jaune's words, likely still a little freaked out. Jaune could feel something latch onto his hood, and pull him back to the others.
It didn't take long for the two of them to be pulled back to the rock, and for the others to help pull them up out of the water. When the two boys made it onto the rock, both of them practically collapsed in exhaustion, with their respective partners rushing to their sides. "Sun! Are you okay? Tell me you're alright!"
"Jaune, what about you? Are you tired? Hungry?" Jaune was still trying to catch his breath; while what he did wasn't physically tiring, the gravity of the situation hit him all at once and left him feeling exhausted. 'One of us almost died. I don't think I could've carried him back on my own. Before too, with that JungleMojyamon or whatever it was called. That thing could've killed us.' Jaune's thoughts were interrupted by a tapping on his shoulder. "Hey, you saved me. I probably wouldn't have made it without you. Thanks." Sun smiled brightly at Jaune, holding his fist out towards Jaune. He just gave a small smile of his own, and fist-bumped Sun. "No problem. I know you'd do the same for me."
"No, I seriously owe you one. I'll return the favor someday, I swear."
"You really don't need to."
"Hey guys, I'm glad that you're both okay and all, but what do we do now?" Ruby interrupted, while she and Gabumon sat down next to the two blondes.
"I agree that we should discuss that topic. One of us can't swim, and we have nothing to row with. Unless a strong enough current comes along, we're stuck here." Ren added, following suit with the others and sitting down. After attempting to dry both Jaune and Sun, Falcomon joined Ren, completing the circle.
"I guess we could introduce ourselves properly? Since, you know, we might be stuck together for a long time." Jaune offered, hoping to get to know his companions a little more.
"Oooh, oooh! I'll go first. My name's Ruby Rose, I'm 8, I live on Patch, and I wanna be a Huntress when I grow up. And this is Tsuno...er, Gabu...Um, sorry, what's your name again?" At the beginning of her introduction, she was brimming with excitement, but once she tried to introduce the Digimon sitting next to her, she started stumbling over her words, and evidently, forgot his name, not that Jaune could blame her. She sheepishly laughed as Gabumon gave a heavy sigh. "My name is Gabumon, and I'm Ruby's partner." Gabumon was calm and quiet, as opposed to his partner, who was a little ball of energy.
"But wait, didn't you say that your name was Tsunomon earlier?" Sun interrupted, asking the question that was on everyone's mind.
"That's right. Tsunomon was my previous form, but I digivolved, so I'm Gabumon now." Gabumon answered, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"But what does any of that mean?!" Came Sun's 'eloquent' reply. But to be honest, Jaune was gonna ask that exact same question, Sun just beat him to the punch. Falcomon replied to Sun this time, "When a Digimon gains enough energy, they digivolve to the next stage, increasing their power and changing their form."
"So you level up, like in a video game?" Jaune couldn't help but say the first thing that came to mind; he's always had that bad habit during high stress situations, or when he's extremely exhausted. Sun and Ren looked at him a little confused, but Ruby looked like she understood what he was trying to say. "Anyway, we can talk about that later, after we all introduced ourselves. We're kinda getting off topic here. I'm Jaune Arc, it's short and sweet, and I'm from Highton View, a town close to Vale, the city I mean. I'm 11, and I also want to be a Hunstman when I'm older. And he's..." He gestures for Agumon to introduce himself. "I'm Agumon! I was Koromon until a little while ago! I'm Jaune's friend and partner!" The small reptile puffs his chest out, and puts on a smug expression, as if being Jaune's friend/partner was some huge accomplishment or something special.
"I suppose I'll go next." Ren spoke up for the first time in a while. Jaune gets the feeling that he doesn't talk much, which Jaune could respect. Coming from a 10 member household, silence was a rare commodity. "My name is Lie Ren, but I'd prefer if you called me by my surname, its a tradition from my home. I'm from...Mistral, and I'm 10 years old." And just like that, the black haired boy fell silent once again. Without missing a beat, the bird Digimon next to him started his own introduction. He stood up, placed his wing on his chest, and said, "You may refer to me as Falcomon, my previous form was Poromon. I am Ren's partner and sworn protector." Despite saying some weird things, Jaune could tell that the bird Digimon is completely serious.
"Welp, looks like we saved the best for last! The name's Sun Wukong, hold you applause. I'm 10, live in Vacuo, and I just want to have fun!" The faunus punched his fist up into the air, smiling brighter than anyone Jaune had ever seen. The tiny Digimon beside him jumped up, and quickly made his way onto Sun's shoulder. "I used to be Pusurimon, but I'm Herissmon now! I'm Sun's partner, and I just wanna have fun too!" Of all the pairs, Sun and Herissmon were perhaps the most alike, but it was too early to tell if that was a good thing, or a bad thing. Jaune really hoped it was a good thing, but some part of him thinks it won't be.
"Since that's over now, we can talk about the really important things." Agumon said, trying to push the conversation forward. Jaune wonders what the reptilian Digimon wants to talk about. 'Maybe he wants to talk about a way to get home? Or maybe how to get out of this river? Or maybe-'
"I'm hungry, does anyone have any food?" Agumon asked, an embarrassed look on his face while scratching the back of his head. Jaune already felt a headache coming.
Much to Jaune's shock, he saw Ruby nodding in agreement, "I'm hungry too. What should we do? Hmmm." She put her hand under her chin, thinking hard about this. Jaune hopes that once she puts more thought into it, she'll realize that food is the least of their concerns right now. However, "Oh, I know! How about we go look for food? There's gotta be something to eat around here, right?"
"Hey guys, I'm hungry too, but we have some more important things to worry about right now. Like, for example, getting out of this river." Jaune reminded everyone of their current predicament, hoping to shift their attention away from their hunger.
Ren decided to speak up this time, "I agree with Jaune, finding a way out of here should be our primary focus. However, finding something to eat should be one of the first things we do afterwards. Hunger will drain our strength, and prevent us from thinking clearly."
Sun jumped onto his feet and yelled, "Then it's settled! We'll look for some way out of this river, and then find something to eat!"
"Something to eat!" All of the Digimon repeated, pumping their fists into the air.
'Well, it's not what I expected, but at least we have a plan.' Jaune couldn't help but smile. 'It might not be much, but it's something, and that's good enough. We might be okay? We might actually find a way home!' That's right, getting home is their top priority.
"Anyone got an idea on how to get moving?" Sun asks, sitting back down with a worried expression.
"Uh...guys-"
"Maybe we could climb back up the cliff?" Sun suggested, eyes closed in deep thought.
"Guys, listen-"
"And risk facing that thing again? No way! Besides, I don't think most of us could even climb that high." Jaune quickly shot down Sun's idea.
"Guys, I have-"
"That might be our only option. We have nothing to row with, some of us can't swim, and there's no current to push us along." Ren said, in favor of Sun's plan. Jaune had to admit, he had a point. Now that Jaune though it over some more, he had to agree with them; with their lack of a paddle, and swimming ability, climbing back up the cliff seemed like their best option.
"HEY GUYS!" Ruby yelled, getting the attention of the other three. Now that all eyes were on her, she blushed in embarrassment. "W-we started moving..." She managed to stuttered out.
"Huh?" Jaune looked around, and Ruby was right, the rock was moving on its own, being pushed by the river's sudden current. He then looks back at the cliff, which was getting further and further away. "I guess climbing back up isn't possible anymore."
Sun just shrugged his shoulders and laid down, looking up at the sky. "I guess we should stay on this rock until it stops moving, huh?" Herissmon snuggled up to him, and appeared to be taking a nap. Sun quickly joined his partner in dozing off.
"Its not like we have anything else to do." Ruby responded, sketching things in the dirt. Jaune could swear he saw her drawing a gun. Gabumon sat beside her, making comments every now and again.
Ren and Falcomon appear to have sat down at the edge of the rock in silence, looking out at the cliffs above. Maybe they were searching for an unseen attacker; or maybe they just liked watching it pass by; or maybe they weren't staring at the cliffs at all, and were lost in thought, Jaune couldn't really tell.
Agumon walked up to Jaune, holding his stomach in agony, "Jaaaaaaune! I'm so hungryyyyyy! I don't think I can go on."
"Sorry, I don't have any food on me. If I did, then I would've given it to you already."
Agumon stared at Jaune with a weird look in his eyes, "Has anyone ever told you that you look delicious?" Agumon starts drooling as he gets closer and closer to Jaune. Jaune tries to keep the Digimon at bay, but his weak noodle arms couldn't do anything to stop hungry reptile.
"No, wait, stop! DON'T EAT ME!" Jaune's scream, which totally doesn't sound like a girl no matter what his sisters say, echoed into the canyon.
It took some time until the rock firmly embedded itself into a beach surrounded by more forest. During their trip, they passed the time just making small talk and playing some games. Ruby totally didn't beat Jaune at rock-paper-scissors 5 times in a row, nope didn't happen, even if Ruby likes to lie and say it did. Agumon also tried to eat Jaune on 3 different occasions, making him question whether the Digimon really was his friend. Agumon's only defense was "You should take it as a compliment."
"Finally, some room to stretch my legs." Sun was the first one off, jumping onto the beach. Herissmon followed close behind, "Sun, wait up. Don't forget about me."
Jaune slowly slid off the rock, followed closely by Agumon. Unfortunately, Agumon wasn't paying attention while getting off, so when he jumped off, he accidentally landed on Jaune. "Oof! Agumon! Pay attention!"
"Heh, sorry Jaune, but hey, at least you make for a comfortable landing." The Digimon gets off his partner and holds out his hand, which Jaune graciously accepts, and pulled him onto his feet.
Ruby and Gabumon climbed down at the same time. When she got off, Ruby gazed around the beach in child-like glee, running around the whole thing, looking at everything she could. Gabumon tried to keep up with her as best he could, "Ruby, don't run off like that! I can't protect you if you're too far."
Ren and Falcomon quietly slid down as well. "I suppose we'll be entering the forest?" Falcomon says, trying his hardest to hide his excitement, but failing miserably. It was evident that he was hungry like everyone else, and really wanted to find something to eat.
"Not like we have anywhere else to go." Sun replied, already making his way towards to great mass of trees. Herissmon shot forward, yelling, "I'll race ya!"
"You're on!" Sun ran after the small Digimon.
"I never lose in a race!" Ruby wasn't far behind them, seemingly having accepted Herissmon's challenge.
"Foooooood!" Agumon ran towards the forest too, but for very different reasons. And now Jaune's headache is back, 'I hope this doesn't become a pattern.'
"Ruuuuby! What did I say about getting too far from me!" Gabumon chased after his partner.
"Guuuuuys! We're should stick together!" Jaune yelled out in vain, but the others just ignored him. Ren just put his hand on Jaune's shoulder and said, "Let's not get left behind." With a heavy sigh from Jaune, the two boys and Falcomon began walking after their friends.
By the time they reached the others, their little "race" ended, with Agumon as a surprise winner. Ruby was a little upset about losing, but Gabumon managed to cheer her up. Herissmon and Agumon were off a little further ahead, looking for food. Sun was waiting for them, impatiently tapping his foot against the ground. "Took you guys long enough."
"Sorry. But to be fair, you guys just sorta took off without warning." Jaune defended himself, wondering if this is how his older sisters feel. "Well now that we're all together, let's pick a direction and walk, and hopefully find some food. Who knows, we might find someone who lives here. Ah, preferably one who won't attack us on sight." So the group began walking in a random direction.
At some point, they managed to attain some sort of comfortable silence. Jaune used this time to help collect his thoughts and memories of everything that's happened. 'All of this happened because of that shooting star, right? Was it because I...did this happen because I wished to be a hero?' To be a hero, Jaune's greatest dream. A hero, just like his dad, his ancestors, and most importantly, his grandfather. His grandfather played the biggest part in him wanting to be a hero, Jaune could still remember that day, the day he decided to become a hero no matter what.
A six-year old Jaune was sitting on a large couch beside a lit fire place. The young Arc was dressed in his pajamas, a light blue shirt with the Pumpkin Pete rabbit stamped on front, and a pair of slightly darker blue pajama pants. He was sick that day, so he stayed home instead of going to school with his sisters, his dad was out on a mission, and his mom left to get groceries; all the other Arcs were gone, all except-
"And there I was, Beowolf on my left, Ursa on my right, and a village full of innocent people behind me." Sitting beside Jaune was his grandfather, Sigurd Arc, the oldest living member of the Arc family. At 60 years old, the patriarch of the Arcs had short, grey hair, and a grey beard. His blue eyes were the same shade as the other Arcs, but where Arthur's were filled with determination and drive, or where the Arc children's had innocence, his held a calming mixture of joy and wisdom. Hanging from his neck was a pair of yellow-rimmed goggles with a white tint and a black headband.
"What did you do then?"
"Well I couldn't just abandon the village! So I drew my sword, and fought the two Grimm. 2 on 1 was pretty bad odds, but since I forgot my shield in the village, it made for a fair fight. But like always, I emerged victorious, both Grimm defeated, and the village saved." Sigurd was telling Jaune stories of his time as a Hunter, something Jaune always looked forward to. Sigurd was a Hunter, but retired shortly after turning 50, and became a commercial airship pilot. When asked why he chose pilot, he simply said, "I don't wanna sit around doing nothing, and I already got the goggles, so why not?"
"You're so cool grandpa!" Jaune had nothing but adoration for his grandfather, the man was his personal hero. "But if you're a pilot because you got those goggles, then why'd you become a Huntsman, and not a pilot right away?"
"If I didn't become a Huntsman, then I wouldn't have these goggles." Jaune just looked at him confused. "Ah, Jaune, do you know the story behind these goggles?" Jaune just shook his head. "Of course you don't, no one knows this story, not even your father. So don't tell anyone, okay?" Jaune nodded his head in excitement. "It all started during my first mission as a real Huntsman, in my generation we didn't have teams like the new ones, so I went solo. The mission was simple: a village saw some Grimm, only a few beowolves, in the forest, and asked for some Hunstmen, so I was sent down there to eliminate the Grimm, and help the village build some defenses. Let me tell you, the mission wasn't so simple, turns out there was a whole Beowolf pack, they even had an Alpha. And I was the only trained Huntsman on site, things were looking grim, pardon the pun." Jaune didn't dare make a sound, fearing that if he did, then Sigurd wouldn't finish the story. The elder Arc smiled at his grandson's awe, and so he jumped up from his seat, and began acting out his story.
"But I didn't falter, instead, the dire circumstances only served to steel my resolve; no one was going to get injured on my watch, I wouldn't allow it! So when the foul Grimm started to emerge from the forest, I was ready. I brandished my sword and shield-" Jaune gasped, and looked towards the sheathed sword currently hanging over the fire place. "That's right, Crocea Mors, the very blade that's been in our family since the Great War! It was that very sword and shield that guided my hand when I charged to meet the Beowolf hoard. Blade met claw in the most fearsome battle I've ever faced, even to this day! More Grimm than I could count, but still I continued fighting, overwhelmed, but I pushed through it! I should've died ten times over, but I didn't. The pain I felt was great, but I wouldn't break, I couldn't, I refused to. At some point, I stopped feeling that pain altogether; all I could feel was this determination burning within me, the desire to save that village. It felt like an eternity, but eventually it was just me and the Alpha left. It had stayed in the back, letting the others wear me down, like a coward! It rushed at me, intent on killing me. But my own body acted before my mind could catch up, and I ended up striking the Alpha first, cutting it down in a single strike." Jaune cheered as his grandfather mimicked the final blow. The old man took a bow, before sitting back down to continue the story.
"After the battle concluded, I dropped then and there, amidst the disappearing bodies of the Grimm. The villagers rushed me back into the village, and gave me as much medical aid as they could. After a few days, I was fully healed, and ready to leave. As I was about to board the bullhead, one of the village boys, around your age, ran over to me. He wanted to thank me for the work I did, and so, he gave me these goggles. He told me how they were his greatest treasure, but he wanted me to have them. Since then, I've always worn these goggles to remember those I've helped." Sigurd expected Jaune to erupt into cheer like he always did, but the boy was strangely quiet. Looking over at his grandson, Sigurd only saw the little boy deep in thought.
"But why? Why did you help them? You got really hurt, and Mom says not to do something if it hurts."
"'Why? Why did you help us?' People always asked me that during my missions. I kept thinking about it, trying to figure out what drove me to such lengths to help strangers I've never met, yet I never had an answer. But then I thought..." He gave a great pause, making sure that Jaune was paying attention to every word. Jaune waited with bated breathe, desperately wanting the answer to his question, until...
"Do you need a reason to help people?" The answer was so short, so simple, and many people around Remnant would reject it outright, but to Jaune Arc, it was all he needed to hear. That small phrase resonated within him so deeply, it practically engraved itself into his soul. It was the moment that the boy decided to be a hero, to help everyone he could. The dream he held onto for 5 years, despite his parents telling him no, despite the other kids at school telling him he was too weak, despite everything, the boy wouldn't let go of his dream.
Jaune was lost in thought, and his body was moving on autopilot, so it was only a matter of time before he tripped. And tripped he did, falling face first into the dirt, knocking him out of his thoughts. "Oof!"
"Jaune! Are you alright?" Agumon was by his side, helping him up.
"Yeah, I wasn't paying attention and tripped, no big deal." Jaune looked behind him, wonder what he could've tripped over. He spotted a small, white oval with 4 stubby legs, 2 black eyes, 2 antenna-like things above its eyes, and 2 small fangs poking out of it's lip. Jaune and the oval stared at each other for a solid minute, unblinking, unflinching, until...
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH" Both of them screamed out in fright. When the oval screamed, it revealed rows and rows of razor sharp teeth, which only served to make Jaune scream even louder. Jaune quickly ran behind Agumon, while the other Digimon hid behind a tree. Soon enough, the others arrived, all they could see was Jaune hiding behind Agumon, "Jaune! Are you okay?"
"Y-yeah, I just..." Jaune cleared his throat, trying to prevent his voice from cracking any more that it already did, "I found another Digimon, and it startled me a little." He pointed to the tree the other Digimon hid behind. Sun snuck behind it, and managed to grab the Digimon, bringing it into view for the others. The small Digimon struggled against Sun's arms, trying its hardest to break free. Herissmon kept running around them saying, "New friend! New friend! New friend! New friend!"
"What's the big idea!?" The tiny Digimon spoke, surprising all the children.
"You can talk?" Sun, like always, said what everyone was thinking.
"Of course I can talk, why wouldn't I?" The Digimon
"Well, it's just that, you're the first Digimon we've met that can talk, aside from these guys." Ruby answers, pointing to their partners. Jaune could hear Gabumon whisper, "We've only met the JungleMojyamon though?" Ruby shushed Gabumon, an embarrassed look on her face. "You weren't supposed to tell him that!" She whispers back. Gabumon covers his mouth with his hands, "Sorry!"
"Huh, well, most Digimon can talk. Those that don't are either feral, or really dumb." The Digimon just looks confused now, and is second-guessing if the group is really a threat.
"If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing out here?" Falcomon speaks up. Ren was silently looking around the area, searching for any other Digimon.
"I was looking for food for my village, but then this guy," he points his little leg towards Jaune, "fell on top of me, and you know the rest." Jaune turned away sheepishly, "S-sorry...my bad."
"Did you say food?!" Agumon yelled out, getting into the other Digimon's face. 'At least he's consistent.' Jaune thought. He must be getting used to his antics, because he didn't get a headache this time, which was slightly concerning.
"Did you say village?" Ren finally spoke, having finished his search of the perimeter.
"Y-yeah. Over there is a bag filled with food. I was tasked with gathering it for my village, which is in the same direction." He points is leg in the direction Jaune and Agumon were walking originally, before, literally, stumbling into this mess.
"What's your name by the way?" Jaune asked, remembering that they haven't introduced themselves yet.
"I'm Tokomon, and you are?"
"I'm Jaune, this is Agumon, and that's Sun, Herissmon, Ren, Falcomon, Ruby, and Gabumon, it's nice to meet you Tokomon. I'm really sorry about what happened, and I want to make it up to you. How about we help you get that food to your village?" Jaune said, feeling really bad about this whole situation.
Tokomon took a minute to reply, but eventually, "Sure, grab that bag and follow me." Sun sets the tiny Digimon down, and the kids follow him towards his village.
The "village" was a small grouping of huts in a small clearing with a wooden fence around the whole thing. 'It's not what I'm used to, but it's better than nothing.' Jaune thought as Tokomon lead them to the entrance. At the entrance, they were stopped by the weirdest thing Jaune has ever seen. It looked like a big, orange guinea pig, with batwings on its head, and a cream colored underside. Its light blue eyes glared at the group as it says, "Tokomon, what did you do? Why have you brought strangers to our village?" His voice reminded Jaune of a kid pretending to be an adult by lowering his voice, it was quite funny actually, but Jaune managed to hold in his laughter.
"Patamon, these strangers offered to help carry the food back to the village, the least we could do is let them in."
"Hmph, fine, but if they cause any trouble, then they'll be thrown out." Patamon turned away from the group, and flew back into the village.
Once he was out of ear-shot, Herissmon turned towards Tokomon and asked, "What's his problem?"
Tokomon just sighed, "That was Patamon, the only member of Tokomon Village that's managed to digivolve, so he acts like a guard. Recently a Digimon has been attacking our village and stealing our food. So he's a little on edge lately, don't mind him. Anyway, help bring that bag to the center of the village, that's where we put all of our food." Tokomon directs them towards the center, and all of them follow him, except for Jaune. He stays behind a little, and looks in the direction Patamon went with a troubled look on his face.
"Hey, Jaune! They said we could have some food! If you don't hurry up, there won't be any left!" Agumon's words snapped Jaune out of his thoughts, and he was rushing to catchup with the others, "Save some for me please!"
Aside from Patamon, the village was entirely inhabited by Tokomon, really living up to its name. All of the Tokomon were pretty friendly, most of them were excited to see them. And true to their word, they provided them with some of their food, apples surprisingly. Jaune expected something weird or unnatural, so seeing something normal was quite a relief for him.
Agumon wasted no time, he grabbed an apple, and took a bite out of it. Only to spit it out a few seconds later, his face a little green. "Jaaaaaune, this tastes terrible!"
"What exactly do you want me to do about it?! Besides, it's an apple, how bad can it be?" Jaune said, getting ready to take bite out of his apple.
"Ack! This apple tastes like rotten beef!" Sun shouted out. Jaune stopped before he could take a bite, now convinced that something was up.
"Well of course it tastes rotten, you ate a Meatapple without cooking it first." A Tokomon said, putting sticks into a fire pit.
"Meatapple?" Ruby asked.
"That thing you're holding, it's called a Meatapple. You're supposed to cook it over a fire, otherwise it tastes raw. They say that there's a Meatapple for every type kind of meat."
'Meatapple...an apple that tastes like meat, that you have to cook...of course. Why did I think that anything in this world would make sense?' Jaune thought.
Another Tokomon walked over, and handed Agumon another Meatapple, "Here, this one's already cooked."
Agumon practically inhaled the Meatapple, as in only a few seconds he was asking more, Jaune was pretty sure he didn't even chew. The other Meatapples were now on sticks, roasting over the fire, Jaune couldn't help but compare it to roasting marshmallows with his family in Shion. But Jaune couldn't focus on his family right now, something he overheard kept invading his thoughts, "Say Tokomon, I've heard that your village has been getting attacked?"
"That's right. Recently, a Tuskmon has been attacking our village, taking our food, and we're powerless to stop it." Tokomon looked down, a hopeless expression on his face. Out of the corner of his eye, Jaune could see Ren's colors start to fade again, and judging by Falcomon's worried expression, it looks like he noticed too. Jaune will have to talk to him about that later.
Ruby gasped, "That's horrible. How could anyone do something like that?"
"The strong rule over the weak, that's just how the Digital World works." Gabumon answered for Tokomon, putting his hand on Ruby's shoulder, a somber expression on his face. His voice, which was usually calm and quiet, took on a more somber tone.
"That's..." For the first time since they've arrived at the Digital World, Sun was completely speechless. Even Herissmon wasn't smiling or playing around.
"D-don't worry guys. This guy might've attacked Tokomon village before, but now we're here. W-we defeated JungleMojyamon, and we can beat this Tuskmon too. So long as we work together, I promise we can do anything, and an Arc always keeps his word." Jaune tried his best to cheer the others up, and he really tried to sound confident. But everything about this world unnerved him, and he was scared, scared that one of them might get hurt, or worse.
"Jauen's right, we're strong together!" Agumon agreed. Jaune really envied the Digimon's confidence.
"ROOOOOOOAAAAAAAAR!" A deep roar echoed throughout the clearing. Another Tokomon ran up to the group, fear stretched across his face. "It's Tuskmon! Patamon's gone off to face him!"
The group rushed out of the village, and saw Patamon facing off against what Jaune could assume was Tuskmon: a large, bipedal, green dinosaur with red stripes going down from its head to its tail; two horns protruding from its head, spikes sticking out of its back, a tattoo of a skull and crossbones on its left shoulder, and the most striking part about it, two large, red and black horns that grew out of its shoulders.
"Boom Bubble!" Patamon releases a burst of air from its mouth. The shot makes contact with Tuskmon, who remains unfazed from the attack. Tuskmon rushed towards Patamon, who barely manages to dodge. Tuskmon kept charging forward until it crashed into the surrounding trees. He turns and prepares to charge Patamon again.
"Pepper Breath!" A fireball hits Tuskmon directly in the eye, causing him to flinch and veer off to the left, missing Patamon entirely. Agumon runs up, and stands in front of Patamon, watching Tuskmon get up.
Herissmon rushes forward, and curls up into a ball, "Needle-Point Dive!" Herissmon hit Tuskmon in its chest, but he recoiled in pain, holding his head. "Owie! That hurt a lot!" Tuskmon smacked Herissmon back towards the group.
"Herissmon!" Sun shouted, attempting to rush over to his partner, but Jaune held him back. "Let me go!"
"Blue Blaster!" Gabumon attacks, but instead of an intense jet of blue flames, it was more like a drizzle, and only served to draw Tuskmon's attention to him. "Uh oh." Gabumon attempted to run away, but was knocked away, slamming his back into a tree.
"Gabumon!" Ruby, like Sun, tried to run to her partner, but Ren stopped her. "What are you doing! Let me go!"
"You'll only get hurt." Ren said, struggling to hold the younger child back.
"You shall not continue! Wind Blade" Falcomon appeared from the air, and threw his wings forward, but nothing happened. Tuskmon spun around, and smacked Falcomon to the ground with its tail.
"Falcomon!"
"I don't get it, why aren't our attacks working? Everyone's failed except for Agumon!" Sun shouted, having stopped fighting against Jaune's grasp.
"It's because Agumon had something to eat! The others are too hungry to fight!" Ruby answered.
'Then it's just me and Agumon...this is bad. This is really bad! I can't do this on my own. It took all of us to take down JungleMojyamon, and even then, we didn't really defeat him!' Despite his speech from earlier, Jaune didn't see any possible way for them to beat Tuskmon. All but one of their Digimon were incapacitated, and Agumon's and Patamon's attacks were doing practically nothing.
"Claw Attack!" Agumon rushed forward, and released a volley of slashes and jabs at Tuskmon, but the bigger Digimon is left unaffected, and returns fire by smacking Agumon back towards the kids.
"Agumon!" Jaune cried out, but he held himself back. What could he do out there? What could he possibly do? 'It's hopeless, he's too strong. There's no way we can win, we lost.' Agumon slowly picks himself up from the ground. 'Why are you getting back up? Your attacks aren't doing anything to him, and he's just smacking us around like dolls.'
"Boom Bubble!" Patamon fires another air bubble, which again had no effect. Tuskmon had enough of Patamon's annoyances, and whipped him out of the air with its tail. Patamon slammed into the ground, bouncing back towards Jaune and the others. Tuskmon backed up a little bit, and prepared to charge. No one could believe what happened next, not even Jaune himself, but in that moment, he ran towards Patamon.
"What am I doing?' He thought, rushing towards the injured Digimon.
'What can I do? If Agumon couldn't do anything, then why?' His body was moving without his consent, he wanted to turn back, to run away, but he only continued to move forward. With every step, his heart started pounding louder and louder, blocking out the concerned shouts of his friends. Agumon, despite his injuries, chased after Jaune, "JAUNE!"
Tuskmon began its charge, but Jaune's body didn't stop, it only ran faster. 'Stop! Stop! I can't do anything! Turn back now!' Jaune now stood a few feet away from Patamon, he bent down low to the ground, grabbed a rock, and threw it at Tuskmon. 'This is it, this is how I'll die.' Tuskmon, enraged, roared and changed its course, and charged at Jaune. Suddenly, Jaune's device emitted a bright light, and a deafening screech. Agumon, who was only a few feet behind Jaune, began glowing with that same light.
"Agumon digivolve to..."
The glowing light that enveloped Agumon kept growing and growing, until it eventually receded, but it didn't leave Agumon in its place. Though similar to Agumon, this Digimon was much larger, it was practically two stories tall. It has orange scales, with blue tiger stripes all along its body, three claws on each hand and foot, reddish eyes, sharp fangs jutting from its jaw, a long tail, and a brown shell-like armor on its head with three horns, one on its nose and the others on top of its head.
"Greymon!"
Jaune braced for impact, but it never came. Opening his eyes, he saw Greymon holding Tuskmon by the horns with enough force to stop its charge. "A...gumon?
Greymon looked down at Jaune, and said, "I'm Greymon now. Now move!" Jaune, snapping out of his awe, grabbed Patamon and ran back to the others, as Greymon lifted Tuskmon up, and slammed him into the ground. The others swarmed Jaune when he made it back.
"You okay man?"
"What were you thinking?"
"That was a rather stupid decision."
But Jaune didn't pay attention to any of them, once he was back in safety, he turned back to watch Tuskmon push Greymon back. The two Digimon squared off, both of them waiting for the right moment. Tuskmon was the first to strike, charging forward like he always did, but Greymon met with a charge of his own.
"Horn Impulse!"
Both Digimon clashed into a stalemate, horns locked together, neither giving any ground to their opponent. But something had to give, and Tuskmon was beginning to get pushed back. The wild Digimon swung a fist towards Greymon, who had no choice but to break their clash to dodge it. Now freed, Tuskmon back away, before getting ready to charge again.
'Greymon's stronger, but only slightly. Not to mention he already took a beating as Agumon.' Jaune scanned the battlefield, hoping to find anything he could use to help, any information that Greymon could use.
"Greymon! When he charges at you, try to throw him into the air as high as you can!" It was a rather simple strategy, but Tuskmon didn't seem to be thinking that much, so maybe it would work, or Jaune hoped so at least.
Tuskmon, oblivious to the pair's newly concocted plan, charged once more. Greymon met him with a charge of his own, and the two were locked in a clash once again. Tuskmon tried to punch Greymon, who was prepared, and dodged to the side. Tuskmon tried to back away, but Greymon wouldn't let him, slamming his tail into Tuskmon's side. But he didn't stop there, he kicked Tuskmon onto the ground, and stomped on him over and over again. Finally, he bent down and put his horn under Tuskmon, and threw the other Digimon high into the sky. But that wasn't enough for him, and Jaune could flames spilling from his mouth, building up more and more until...
"Nova Blast!"
...he released a giant ball of fire at the flung Digimon. With fireball exploded on contact, and the Tuskmon was sent sailing even farther away.
Jaune couldn't believe what happened, 'We won...we won? We won.'
"We won!" He couldn't help but cheer and pump his fist into the air. The others shared in his excitement, albeit in their own way, as they rushed over to their partners, who were also celebrating their victory. Jaune looked at Greymon, basking in his partner's newfound power.
"Why? Why did you help me?" A voice broke through Jaune's thoughts. It was Patamon, who looked at him in confusion.
"W-what do you mean?" The question caught Jaune off guard.
"Why did you save me? I'm a complete stranger to you, and...and I was so rude to you when we met. But you still risked yourself for me. You didn't know that Agumon was gonna digivolve at the time, but you did it anyway. Why?"
Jaune was completely stumped for an answer. Not even he knew why he did it. 'People always asked me that during my missions. I kept thinking about it, trying to figure out what drove me to such lengths to help strangers I've never met, yet I never had an answer. But then I thought...'
"Do I need a reason?" Jaune gave Patamon the best smile he could as he spoke his grandfather's words, fully believing in them. Patamon just sat in a stunned silence, before walking back to the village. Jaune looked at him worryingly, but looked back towards his friends. Greymon shone with a bright light, before growing smaller, and reverted back to a tired looking Agumon. Jaune ran over to him, "I guess you won't stay in that form?" He teased, helping the Digimon to his feet.
"Mmm, too tired. Also hungry. Can I have some food?"
"Nice to see that somethings never change, huh buddy? C'mon, let's get you something to eat." With that, the pair headed back towards the village.
Everyone in Tokomon Village was ecstatic, and they celebrated by throwing the group a large party. Everyone had their fill of Meatapples, and Agumon and Jaune were swarmed by Tokomon thanking them.
"We can't thank you enough for helping our village." A Tokomon said, bowing as best as he could.
"It's really no problem." Jaune was really embarrassed now, not used to having so many congratulate or thank him before. It felt kinda nice, if a bit strange. "But we're looking for a way home. I don't suppose you could help us, can you?"
"Unfortunately, I don't know anything that could help you." All the kids felt disappointed, and it must have shown, because Tokomon quickly said, "But I know someone who might."
"Who?"
"Wisemon, in the Steel Mountain. Some say that Wisemon has complete knowledge about the Digital World. If anyone could help you get home, then it's him."
The kids, after hearing Tokomon's words, couldn't help but but smile; they now had a goal, to see Wisemon at the Steel Mountain, and with that goal came hope.
"Thank you, for everything you've done for us." Ren bowed, followed by Falcomon.
"No no, we should be thanking you. You've freed us from Tuskmon, now we can leave the village without fear. Here, take some Meatapples for your trip, they're all uncooked, so don't think about eating them just yet."
"Here, we can put them in my bag." Ruby took the bag of Meatapples and put them into her own backpack. For the slightest second, her face morphed into an expression of worry, but she quickly changed it back to one of excitement. Only Gabumon seemed to have caught the change.
"Alright guys! Who's ready to leave? We gotta big trip ahead of us, I think. How far away is the Steel Mountain by the way?" Sun asked, which Jaune completely forgot about. He was gonna leave without asking that, that would've been bad.
"Just keep heading north, you can't miss it."
"North we go!" Herissmon and Sun began running...in the opposite direction.
"North is this way guys!" Jaune shouted. The two hyperactive duo stopped dead in their tracks, turned around, and began running north.
"North we go!"
"North we go!" Ruby couldn't help but cheer along with them, and began running too, Gabumon just barely keeping up with her.
"This is gonna be a long trip." Jaune couldn't help but smile.
"That it will be." Ren also gave a small smile, and started walking after the others. Jaune was about to follow him, but he felt a tugging on his pant leg. Looking down, he saw a shy looking Patamon.
"W-wait." He squeaked out. "I-I never got to..." He whispered the last part.
"I'm sorry, I didn't hear that last part."
"I-I never got to th-thank you...for saving me." Patamon looked really embarrassed now. "You didn't have to, but you did anyway."
"Don't worry about it." Jaune smiled at the Digimon, "It's just what heroes do." And he chased after this friends with Agumon right beside him.
"Hey guys! Wait for us!"
Without looking back, the group ran towards their destination, Steel Mountain, hoping that Wisemon will have the information they need to get back home.
A/N: And done. God this took too much time. I really struggled in writing this, but I'm rather pleased with how things turned out. Lot's of important things happened in the chapter: the group has a destination, Agumon digivolved, and we met Jaune's Grandfather. Speaking of Sigurd Arc, he's named after Siegfried, a warrior from Norse mythology who killed a dragon, and he seems to be wearing a very familiar pair of googles. Anyway, tell me what you thought about the chapter. Also, tell me about your favorite Digimon, and maybe the reason why its your favorite. I'll try to get the next chapter out sooner than this one, but I can't make any promises.