Disclaimer: I don't own the Digimon, but the characters belong to the moderators and members of the Digital Connections forum – found here forum/ Digital-Connections/ 22352/ and under the "So you want to be a Digidestined?" topic

A/N: Slightly newer opening, but here's to meeting the rest of the Digidestined!

Special thank you to Miss Anonymous hp for her amazing notes and background that have really assisted in piecing together this chapter, so thank you

Chapter 09

Jake, Marie and Kate had successfully escaped the clutches of a dark Digimon, but it came at the cost of the refugee camp that was hiding beneath the ground. Once they had resurfaced, they left Kotemon to lead the refugees to their new safe haven, but only after sharing a mismatched meal that led to the digivolution of Bellemon into a fiery Digimon called Merimon and Pichimon to digivolve into Bukamon.

Sonja, Heather and Charles were crossing the Digital World in search of Alphamon's castle in the south. Their journey was fraught with danger and when a group of Gazimon attacked them, their partners digivolved to their rookie level forms. The battle took its toll on the three Digimon who had no idea how draining a fight may be.

Having inadvertently met up with Charles and Akiza, Mike and Ryan joined forces with them and the Armadillomon to send the Monmon tribe running. Knowing that the Monmon were going down the sacrificial route, it was clear that there was a dangerous Digimon in the area so they quickly left Malware Square. Their journey led them past the base of the Docu Mount where Mike gave the three lessons in caring for their newly hatched Digimon and how one day, they would have partners as tough as Renamon.

-o-

Jake stood at the top of a sandy hill looking out at the sea. Mount Docu… Spiwear Temple… Malware Square… Where is the fourth Digi-Core tree? He thought to himself. Seeing Marie and Kate playing with their in training level Digimon made him feel very aware that it was something he was lacking.

The trio had heard rumours about the Malware Square DigiCore tree location and that Lucemon had stopped protecting the Mount Docu tree, so they assumed that the Spiwear Temple was where Kate and Marie had acquired their Digi-Eggs from. It just left a fourth DigiCore tree out there somewhere.

Kate noticed Jake looking forlornly out to sea and started to walk over to him. "We will find your Digi-Egg too, Jake." She stood beside him, staring at the water. "Oh… Are you- do you think that… The DigiCore tree might be in the water?"

His eyes widened – apparently he hadn't. Without missing a beat, he started to run down the sandy bank to get to the water's edge.

Kate called out to Merimon and Marie to follow her down the hill. Her feet skittered over the sand as she tried to keep upright. Whilst Kate hated the feeling of sand in her shoes, it was something that she was just going to have to ignore. She followed Jake along the beach to a point where there was a small wooden boat tied to a lone post. "What are you doing?"

"I just have a feeling – a feeling that the last DigiCore tree is out there in the ocean." Jake stretched his hand out, gesturing the water. "Think about the places we've found or hear of the trees growing. Spiwear temple was in the middle of sand. Docu Mount is clearly a snowy mountain. I can't comment on Malware Square, but I know that the last tree has got to be in open waters…"

Marie joined the pair. "Or in a volcano," she suggested positively. "What? Isn't that true?"

"Well I know where I'd rather hedge my bets."

Kate wasn't so keen to venture into deep open waters in search for something that may not even have been there in the first place. "This is insane, Jake. Come on!"

Jake shook his head, untying the rope around the post. "This is something I have to do. If this place really needs to be saved and we are the people to do it, then I'm not going to stand by and wait for a miracle to come along and drop a Digital Egg in my lap."

Kate wanted to stop Jake from going – as did Marie, but it seemed like his mind was already made up. "Okay, we won't stop you, but we can't guarantee we'll be here when you get back."

"Where will you go?" Jake asked.

"We'll head to the castle in the Northern Hemisphere. Marie mentioned something about it, so perhaps that is where we should go…" Kate held her hand out to Jake. "Good luck, Jake. I hope you find what you're looking for out there."

"After all that the three of us have been through. From the wasteland, circuit labyrinth, Datamon's lab, Spiwear Temple-

"I get it Jake, we've been through a lot…" Kate laughed softly.

"So you're going to leave it on a handshake?"

"Everyone's hands in then- you too Marie." Kate smiled over at the other girl.

-o-

Monodramon, Lopmon and Lunamon dragged their feet along the ground, trying to keep up with their three human partners. The battle against the Gazimon was like nothing they had experienced before, and so close to when they were newly digivolved...

Heather noticed the slowing pace and consulted her companions. "Maybe we should take a break somewhere? The Digimon need to rest after the fight they had."

Sonja nodded, feeling the pain in the back of her legs growing slowly. "What I would give for a nice comfy bed and a fluffy blanket right now."

The others murmured in agreement. All little further down the path, they passed a large clump of red and yellow flowers that guided them away from the path. Not a word was mentioned when they strayed. It was as if their minds were entranced.

It was Charles that snapped out of it first. He looked around quickly, taking the two girl's arms. "Look."

At the end of the flower path was a large structure that looked almost like a small bed and breakfast. A sign was swinging above the door in the gentle breeze.

"Beds?" Sonja questioned, wondering whether it would be worth a look.

Together, they cautiously chose to approach the building after surveying it from the outside, eager to determine if it would be safe.

As the eldest pressed her face to the window in an effort to look inside, she saw a quaint living room with a lit fireplace and bookshelves on the walls. There was a large knitted blanket draped over an armchair - one that would have been perfect to curl up in with a book.

Monodramon grew tired of waiting for the go ahead and kicked through the door, waddling inside the cottage.

"Monodramon!" Charles squeaked nervously, rushing to the door where his purple Digimon had disappeared through. "Come back, it might not be safe."

Lunamon and Lopmon darted in as well, bounding around the rooms as if it was a game. Lopmon stopped and looked up at the painting over the fireplace.

"Woah..." the little Digimon gasped.

"It is beautiful, isn't it Lopmon?" Sonja said, standing beside her partner, smiling brightly.

"Guys - come upstairs! You're not going to believe this!" they heard Charles call out.

The group of Digimon and their partners raced up the stairs, trying not to stampede each other in the process. Upstairs, in a small attic room, we're three pristinely made beds.

"I hope none of these are too small or big for us!" Heather joked, sitting down on one of the beds. "Oh this certainly beats the hard ground and grass that we've been used to the large few days. Come on guys, you have to try them!"

Charles and Sonja took a little more encouragement, but once they were sat down, they were too comfortable and sinking into the soft, fluffy mattress.

On delighting on how comfy the beds were, they didn't realise they had fallen asleep until they awoke in a less than appealing setting. They now lay on rock hard beds with half of the wall opposite them destroyed and bricks scattered throughout the room.

"Where are our Digimon?" Sonja asked, looking around helplessly, knowing that Lopmon had been beside her on the bed. "Lopmon!"

Charles stirred from his sleep, slowly sitting up with bleary eyes. "I had the most messed up dream that we were in the most comfiest house with soft beds and everything..."

"That wasn't a dream, Charles. I think we all experienced that." Sonja squeezed her arm. "And I don't like this one bit."

Heather climbed off the stiff bed, feeling as though she had not even touched a soft bed, let alone napped accidentally in one. She walked over to the doorway, confused that there was no longer a chestnut coloured door in the frame. Something inside her said that there Digimon partners were nearby at least. Her fingers closed themselves around her D-Connect. "Come on guys, let's stick together and check this place out. Our Digimon have to be somewhere..."

The three of them tiptoed out the dilapidated room and down the freaking stairs, avoiding one with a massive crack in it. Just in case it snapped underneath them and caused an injury.

"Holy Shoot!" they heard someone call out and it sounded reminiscent of when Gazimon exclaimed their attacks before striking.

A small explosion shook the house and Charles gasped suddenly, feeling a pain in his arm.

"What's wrong, Charles?" Sonja asked, reaching out for him at the bottom of the stairs.

He shook his head. "I don't know- I just felt like something had struck my arm. Hurt a bit that's all."

Sidling past the others, Heather crept over to the broken glass window across the corridor. She gestured the others to join her enthusiastically to indicate that their Digimon were nearby.

Outside, the three could see a Digimon looming over Monodramon, with Lopmon lying motionless on the ground and Lunamon dragging herself towards the enemy Digimon.

The Digimon looked like a mixture of different animals that could be found in a zoo or history books. Elephant feet, boar body, mammoth tusks and a tapir nose. It floated on its own little cloud of wispy mist as it loomed over Monodramon.

"Tell me where your human partner is, Monodramon. I can make the pain stop if you do," the Digimon said in an echoed manner as if he was playing the part of a creepy clown.

Heather looked around, noticing the discarded books all over the floor. "Grab some books."

"Why?" Sonja asked, curious as to what the older girl was planning.

"As a distraction." Heather tucked her dark hair behind her ears and helped the others to gather up some books in their arms. "Charles can take the window, you can use the broken wall upstairs and I'll use the door. We need to distract that Digimon and draw them away from ours. Agreed?"

Charles nodded confidently. "I'm with you," he replied before ducking down by the window. He took out some of the loose pages from the books, trying to scrunch them up, but realising quickly that this was perhaps unnecessary noise.

On the floor above him, Sonja was crouched down by the smallest remaining bit of broken wall. There were a couple of bricks surrounding her that she decided would be a last resort if things could ugly. She could feel her heart rate quickening as she waited for Heather's signal.

"How about you Lunamon? Will you tell me where your silly little partner is?"

Lunamon pushed off the ground weakly, staggering to her feet. "Tapirmon, you will not harm Heather!"

"Oh Heather? So the partner has a name- excellent… Then that confirms my assumption that the three of you are special Digimon. I mean, when was the last time a Lunamon, Lopmon and Monodramon were seen travelling together? It's absurd to think that you all thought you could get away with it." Tapirmon spun around, facing the house with narrowed eyes.

Sonja dropped down, covering her mouth with her hand from fear of giving away her position.

"I know you're up there…" Tapirmon rose towards the second floor, about to discover Sonja when a book spun through the air, landing in the dirt with a scuffing sand. "Interesting. Okay humans. We all know that you are there, so perhaps you should do the right thing and give in to me."

Another book landed around the side of the house from Charles' position. A couple of paper aeroplanes followed. Lunamon looked over at Monodramon and nodded, implying that they would need to wait for the right moment to attack.

"I know you are searching for the royal knight's castle. Seeing as you are this far south, you must be heading for Alphamon's castle… And I have news for you about dear old Alphamon… Don't you want to know what happened to the loyal knight?" Tapirmon paused, looking at the building closely. "You fell for my little dream house, so it's only fair that you give me something too."

Sonja pushed a brick off the edge of the roof when she heard more books being thrown from Heather and Charles' hiding spots.

"I'm growing tired of your games!" Tapirmon bellowed.

"We aren't yet!" Monodramon called out, opening his mouth wide. "Fire Breath!"

Monodramon's fire spiralled towards Tapirmon, singeing the Digimon's feet and evaporating the cloud. Their opponent dropped to the floor unable to levitate any more.

"Don't move, Tapirmon." Monodramon put a clawed foot on Tapirmon's back, pinning it to the ground. "I'm still not happy that you hit me with your Holy Shot now, so I'm going to want some information and answers… Tell us what you know!" Monodramon held a claw up to stop the children from exposing their positions.

"Tear Shot!" Lunamon dipped her head, concentrating energy into her head to form a watery orb that burst in Tapirmon's face, startling the Digimon. "You will not hurt Heather, you will not threaten her friends. Tell us what you know."

When Tapirmon started to talk, Lunamon helped a weakened Lopmon up from the floor and over to the enemy. Tapirmon went on to explain how none of the royal knights had been seen, but there were rumours that the dark Digimon, Gulfmon, had sent his deputies to take over the castles in the north and south. Without the royal knights there to protect the Digital World, the Digimon were left either defenceless or running riot.

After getting rid of Tapirmon, sending him packing, the three Digimon regrouped with their partners quickly before rushing to get away from the deteriorating building. When they were sure they were safe, they stopped and took cover under the trees and away from the forest path.

"So you're saying Tapirmon had those flowers planted and they were some kind of hallucinogen?" Charles asked, looking over at Monodramon who confirmed the question. "That means only one thing – we have to get to Alphamon's castle and quickly…"

-o-

Mike looked around them at his surroundings. "We should head north. Based on the things we learnt from Wisemon, Omegamon's castle will be there." He watched as his partner Renamon returned from scouting the area. "What did you find Renamon?"

"Digimon are reporting that the castles of Omegamon and Alphamon are overrun with Gulfmon's minions. If you ask me, that means we should take them on." Renamon cracked the knuckles on one furred hand. "I reckon with a little extra practice that the four of us Digimon could take on whatever comes our way."

"We still have to think logically and work out just what happened with the royal knights. I believe that if we understand what happened that we will be able to help more efficiently."

Renamon rolled their beady eyes. "Ever the optimist…"

Chris and Ryan joined Mike, curious to know what the pair were discussing.

"Nothing that concerns you."

Mike nudged his Digimon away. "Sorry about Renamon- we've just got to keep heading north. Hopefully that way we will be able to find out more information about the knights on the way. Maybe your partners will evolve to their rookie form like Renamon."

The four set off north, crossing uneven lands and passing small towns of baby Digimon. Everything seemed to be going smoothly until they hit a large gate and wall that spanned as far as they could see, curving a little bit.

"I wasn't quite expecting this..." Akiza murmured looking up at the gate, holding her Nyaromon in her arms. "Any ideas guys?"

Mike and Ryan started to march towards the gates, only for a spiked spear to hit the ground ahead of their feet.

"That's far enough now!" a voice called out from the top of the gate. "There's no room for more refugees."

"Refugees?" Ryan whispered before raising his voice. "We're not refugees, were digi-"

His calls were muffled by Mike's hand clamping over his mouth for a second.

"Sorry Ryan. But we can't go blurting out to every Digimon we meet that we are Digidestined."

"But we are... they might be able to help and be more willing to let us in if we tell them."

Akiza nodded slowly. "Mike's right, Ryan. We don't know if the Digimon on the other side of that wall are good or bad. There's no knowing what might happen if they find out. I'm just trying to work out the best solutions to the worst case scenario." Her fingers scratched the top of Nyaromon's head. "That's the most logical way of thinking- I won't be quick to cave in to negativity."

The Digimon at the top of the gate dropped a rope and slid down it with ease. "Declare your namesakes, Digimon."

The teens looked amongst one another, unsure how to navigate the situation.

-o-

Jake had rowed out into the open waters until he could feel the blisters bubbling up on his hands. Despite the hours of rowing, Jake still felt as fresh as a daisy - another helpful feature of the Digital World.

He stopped rowing when the island he left was beginning to shrink significantly. Leaning over the edge of the rowboat, Jake looked down at the ocean. Something in him hoped that there might be a gentle white glow indicating a DigiCore tree. The problem was the reflection of the bright sun meant it was hard to see even a few inches under the surface.

"Come on..." Jake mumbled in exasperation, sitting back down in the boat.

The sea rocked the boat but Jake took very little notice as he buried his head in his hands. He did however notice the dark shadow blocking out the sun.

A whale opened its mouth behind the boat, engulfing it in a single mouthful. The water gushed down the whale Digimon's throat. Jake was tipped out of the boat and plunged into the waters of the beast's stomach.

When he resurfaced, he found the shallowest part of the stomach.

"Look Andreas- Whamon are another boat!"

Someone helped Jake out of the water, turning him into his side.

The first of the two boys who had been eaten by the Whamon was called Dangalira, or Dee for short. Dee wore an unusual outfit that made him look like a member of a biker gang, with a bronze studded maroon cap, a sleeveless leather jacket draped around his body and a black vest that was adorned with a flaming skull.

The other boy, Andreas, kept his distance and seemed to focus on something that was bundled up in an old sail cloth. Another equally skinny lad, perhaps taller than Dee. He had brown hair that was just long enough to hide his blue eyes.

"What's your name, friend?" Dee asked, prodding the boy gently.

"Jake..." he coughed, sitting up slowly.

The belly of the whale was big and empty. Teamed with the dark water and putrid smell, Jake knew he didn't want to stay long.

"I was, looking for a DigiCore tree."

Dee smiled broadly, slapping Jake on the back. "You're kidding?! Well you've come to the right place." He waved Jake on to follow him, passing Andreas. "That's Andreas, he's a bit quiet but coming around. Now watch your step here- there is some stomach acid here..."

Jake watched his footing carefully, using the remains of other boats until he saw the soft glow of a broken DigiCore tree. "Under the water was right."

"Yeah. I guess me and Andreas were lucky when we got sucked into Whamon's body when we were crossing islands in a pedal boat." Dee laughed at the thought of hearing the story out loud. "Then we found this thing and our D-Connects went crazy. Then we got our Digital Eggs. They're hatched now, and with a little snack of leftover food, they're nearly at the third stage. Looks like it's your turn now."

Jake smiled as the pair approached the DigiCore tree. The hazy circle was there – just as it have been in the Spiwear Temple. This was his moment to potentially find his partner Digimon and he could feel a huge sense of anticipation bubbling up in him. His hands rose and then dropped.

"What's wrong, Jake?"

"Just the nerves… the build up to this point. I was with these other two girls up until recently – they had their Digimon and I felt like I was holding them back because they were following me so that I could find mine."

"No worries. I would say take your time, but I suppose there is a little bit of a time restraint on us," Dee replied reassuringly.

Jake nodded, pushing his hands through the hazy circle and shivering at the cold sensation he could feel. Something was round and warm in the tree and Jake just knew it was a Digi-Egg. Wrapping his fingers around the object, Jake felt his arms lock and go rigid. It wasn't what he was expecting, but he slowly stepped back. There was a squelching sound, followed by a roaring loud call from Whamon.

The egg came out of the DigiCore tree. It was a pristine white, with blue zig zags and brown spots over it.

"Congratulations… I just wish that we that there was an easier way to get out of this Whamon." Dee looked up at the Whamon's blow hole. "It's a shame we don't have a flying Digimon. That could have helped us get out of this situation." Dee started to lead Jake back over to Andreas who was checking on their two sleeping Digimon. "How are they doing?"

"They're doing fine actually." Andreas smiled, holding a hand up to Jake. "Even though Dee probably said already, I'm Andreas."

Jake nodded, shaking the other boy's hand. "So who are these little guys?"

"The little guy with the orange Mohawk is my partner, Bukamon. From what we've seen of him, he's a pretty hyperactive and affectionate little Digimon. Dee's partner is called Gigimon." Andreas pulled gently on the blanket to reveal the two Digimon sleeping. "I see you have a little egg yourself. Some cradling and mothering will hatch it into the baby form – a little bit of food will take him to the in training level."

A grinding growling noise echoed through the whale Digimon's body, startling the boys who scooped up their sleeping Digimon.

"What's happening?" Jake asked, feeling Whamon shift his direction rapidly. "I'm going to end up face first in Whamon stomach acid if this doesn't stop!"

Dee grabbed Jake, pulling him away across the remains of other boats and vessels as the stomach began to fill up with water. "This is our chance guys – everyone under the blowhole!" Dee gathered them all together and they braced hard for the impact of the water that would blast them into the air. "Hold on!"

Thoughts from AspiringWriterGirl = This has been a long time coming. I have been waiting to introduce our final two characters, so hopefully it'll move even quicker now!