Chapter 6
Night-time Rendezvous
Patamon could not sleep. He lay on the floor of TK's room, wings drooping down, thinking. He was not used to having to mull things over so, but the strange way the kids had been acting lately had finally forced him to. He had chatted briefly about it with TK after he had gone to bed, but the boy seemed reluctant to tell him just what was going on. All Patamon could get out of him was the fact he and Davis weren't getting along, and it could stay that way for some time.
"I've tried a couple of times to patch things up between us," TK had told him, "but he didn't want to listen to me. So now it's up to him to come and talk to me." Then he had gone silent and would say no more on the subject.
The more Patamon thought, the stronger grew the feeling he had to do something. Digiworld was his home, and it was in trouble. The Digidestined would save it--he had no doubt about that--but they had to do it together. He knew the Digidestined always worked together. They couldn't save the Digital World any other way.
A long time he lay on the floor, thinking on this. Finally, though, he knew he had to stop thinking and do something. But he realized he would need help.
Quietly so as not to wake TK, Patamon rose into the air and slowly floated over to the bedroom door. It was open just a little, allowing air to circulate through the apartment. Gently he nudged it ajar a bit further, then flew out of the bedroom and away down the hall, leaving TK asleep and alone in his bed.
At the end of the hallway he turned into the living room. TK's mother had left the balcony door open to cool down the apartment, leaving the screen in place to keep out insects. Patamon was relieved. The big glass siding door on the balcony was far too heavy for him to move by himself, but with only the screen there, he could make it outside easily and quietly. He could probably have made his way out of the apartment by way of the main door, but he would have risked making noise and waking TK's mom.
Carefully he flew to the screen door. Clutching its handle in his little paws, he flapped his wings in an effort to slide it open. It did not move. He flapped harder, but still it would not budge. Then he remembered how TK sometimes did something before he could open the screen. Of course--it was locked. Patamon hovered, searching in the dim light for the latch. He found it easily enough and flipped it open. Grasping the handle and flapping his wings again, he tugged until the screen slid open. Relieved, he flew outside, then turned around and as quietly as he could closed it again.
Now he stopped and hovered, uncertain where to go next. The first part of his plan was to get Poromon, for he knew he could fly. But which apartment in the block was Yolei's? He had been there only once, and, of course, had seen it only from the inside. He began thinking again, slowly floating down as he did so.
Poromon lived above him: he remembered that much. But Patamon had no idea how many floors up he had to go, nor on what side of the building he should look. He felt the cold concrete of the balcony floor touch his belly as his gentle descent come to an unexpected stop. Looking around him, his eye fell on a collection of stuff that might be found in a household of a working mother and a boy: a broken bicycle, an unused barbecue, a struggling bonsai.
The little tree caught his attention. Now he remembered ... there was a plant on Yolei's balcony, too. A tall one, with broad leaves. He flew off, zig-zagging his way around the upper floors of the building, searching.
It took Patamon nearly ten minutes of flying to find a balcony with a plant that looked like the one he remembered. He landed there and looked carefully at it and the two chairs, struggling to recall what else he had seen. At last convincing himself he had the right place, he carefully flew around, looking into nearby windows and patio doors.
He was rewarded at the second door. The room beyond was definitely Yolei's: a computer sat on a tidy desk under a Wada Kouji poster. It was too dark for Patamon to know for certain if anyone was sleeping in the bed, but he assumed if TK was asleep, Yolei would be too. Fortunately as well, the main glass door had been left slightly ajar to allow fresh air into the bedroom.
Now he had to get Poromon's attention. He opened his mouth a little, and rapidly but quietly let out three high pitched whistles. Yolei stirred in her bed but did not awaken. Poromon, however, heard it clearly and woke up in an instant, alert. He looked around for the source of the warning sound.
Patamon spoke in an urgent whisper. "Poromon! Poromon! Come here!"
"What?" asked Poromon, in a normal voice. Patamon winced.
"Shhh! Not so loud! Come over here, to the outside!"
"Patamon, is that you?" Poromon had not moved, but at least this time he whispered.
"Yes, it's me! Come over here so we can talk quietly!"
Poromon made his way over to the screen door, narrowly missing Yolei's shoes set neatly near the foot of her bed. "What do you want? It's late and I want to sleep."
"The Digital World's in trouble, and I need your help," said Patamon. "Can you come with me?"
"With you? Why? Where?"
"We'll have to talk about that later. First we have to get you out of here."
Poromon balked. "I can't leave leave Yolei. She needs me."
"Not as much as the Digital World needs you. Come on ... unlatch the screen and come outside."
Poromon hesitated. Never before had he been out of Yolei's presence while outside the Digital World. Yet Patamon seemed so insistent. And he was TK's digimon. To Poromon, TK was an Important Digidestined.
"How do I unlatch the door?" he asked.
Patamon rose to the level of the latch. "Just fly up to where I am and look for something that looks like a twig stuck in the wall. Then push down on it."
Poromon did as he was instructed, and after a minute's searching located the latch and opened it. Patamon opened the screen, let Poromon fly out, then closed it behind them.
"Now we have to go find Demi-Veemon," Patamon told his little friend.
"Why him?" asked Poromon. "I'd rather talk to Upamon. He's easier to get along with."
"Because he's Davis's digimon, and we need to get Davis and TK talking again."
"Oh, not those two again!" Poromon's distaste for the tiff between the two boys was noticeable.
"Yes, those two. We have to get all the Digidestined together in the same place, or else the Digital World won't survive. And I know just the place."
"Where?"
"Can we wait 'til later to talk about it? We should be going to Demi-Veemon's place now."
Yet Poromon remained unconvinced. "I don't know about this. I mean, I've never left Yolei alone before in this world. And I don't really feel like flying around in a strange place in the middle of the night."
"Please?" Patamon pleaded. "Demi-Veemon won't listen to me as long as TK and Davis are fighting. I need you because you and Demi-Veemon are on the same side, and if you're with me he just might listen to me."
"Maybe he'll think that I've gone over to your side and chase both of us away."
"We'll have to take that chance. But we have to try."
"Why do we have to do this now? Can't it wait?"
Patamon considered this. Perhaps he was being premature, flying off in a needless hurry to fix something that would just sort itself out if he left it alone. And yet there was the gnawing thought that things would not fix themselves, that the strange temple's aura of discouragement and helplessness would grow ever larger, claiming more and more digimon in its wake and even the Digidestined themselves, until the whole of the Digital World would be drowned, dissolving into despair, and then into chaos, and then finally into nothing at all. No, thought Patamon, delay was the enemy here, and he had to convince Poromon of it.
"It can't wait," he said at last. "Did you feel tired and sad the last time you were in the Digital World?"
"A bit tired. Yes, and sad, too. But maybe that's because ... well ... " Poromon trailed off, lost for words, for now that he thought of it he could not determine why he had felt this way.
"You don't know the half of it," said Patamon. "There's a big place in the Digital World that no-one's ever seen before, and it makes everyone around it feel tired and sad. We need to get the Digidestined together there so they can fix it."
"But it's cold out here. I don't really want to go out flying."
"Poromon! Do you want to see the Digital World again? Unless you help me, it may not be there in a few days! Please, come with me. If you're not going to do it for me, then do it to help Demi-Veemon and Upamon and Agumon and Gatomon ..."
Patamon's naming of their digimon friends finally shook Poromon from his complacency. Up to now he had been thinking only of himself, Yolei, and perhaps Demi-Veemon, but now he realized many more could be affected, too.
"All right, I'll come with you."
Together they rose into the air. Poromon took the lead, for he seemed to know the way. Seeking a reference point, they went around the building to the same side as the main entrance. From there they navigated the streets and corners of the city on a track they hoped would lead them to Davis' home and Demi-Veemon. They kept their altitude, for even at night Patamon was afraid they would attract unwanted attention.
Patamon's main concern was the length of time it could take to locate the building where Davis and Demi-Veemon lived. But Poromon had a good head for navigation and found the place without difficulty. Once there he flew confidently up the building's face to the correct balcony. Again they were in luck, for the block's design was similar to the one they lived in, and Davis' bedroom had a door to the balcony. As he had done back at Poromon's place, Patamon sounded a three whistle alarm to get Demi-Veemon's attention. He had to do it twice before Demi-Veemon woke up.
"Who's whistling?" came a groggy voice from the inside.
"It's Patamon and Poromon," whispered Patamon.
"We're sleeping. Go away!"
"Demi-Veemon, come over here. We need to talk with you."
There was a long pause, so long that Patamon considered whistling again to make sure Demi-Veemon had not fallen asleep. But it was not necessary, for he finally heard the sound of light little footsteps inside coming over to the door. "Why you wake me?" Demi-Veemon asked petulantly when he was at last face to face with the other two.
"I'll tell you in a moment. First we'd like you to come out here, so we can talk and Davis can't hear us."
"Why do we have to do that?"
"Because I don't want Davis to find out I've been here. It's important."
"OK." The little blue digimon put a small hand against the screen and slid it open, then went outside.
"How did you do that?" asked Patamon, surprised. "Both TK and Yolei lock their doors at night."
"Davis doesn't, so I can go outside and get some fresh air at night."
"Lucky for us," said Poromon.
To lessen the chance their conversation would disturb anyone in the apartment, both Poromon and Patamon ventured over to the centre of the balcony. Demi-Veemon followed.
"What's so important to wake me up?" Demi-Veemon demanded when they had finally found a place to sit and talk.
"The Digital World needs help, and you're the only one who can help us right now," said Patamon.
"Me? What's wrong?"
"Well, you know that fight Davis had with TK--"
Demi-Veemon interrupted. "What fight?"
Patamon paused. Himself, he knew all about it, for he had seen the fight from his hiding place at the school. It had occupied his mind almost constantly since. "He didn't tell you about it?"
"No."
Inwardly Patamon frowned, afraid Demi-Veemon would think he was making all this up. But he needed Demi-Veemon's help, and he believed the best way of getting it was to try explaining things to him. He just hoped the in-training digimon could grasp it all.
"OK. Well, Davis and TK got into a fight yesterday. Now they're not friends any more. That's why me and Gatomon and Cantomon haven't gone with you to the Digital World the last couple of days. Yesterday we found a big spooky place there that makes everyone feel very tired--"
Again Demi-Veemon interrupted. "What was so spooky about it?"
"Well, everything seemed dark. It stopped me from digivolving when we got attacked by a Goldtyrramon. And even though it was really big, as if it was built for champion digimon, it had a nursery rhyme carved into the wall beside the gate."
"What's a nursery rhyme?" Demi-Veemon asked.
Patamon was dumbfounded. "You've never heard of a nursery rhyme?"
"No. But I'm only a few weeks old!"
"Oh. It's a little poem older digimon tell to the younger ones. This one said:
-
"Six little bees
Fly away! Fly away!
Look for six wildflowers
To brighten your day!"
"That's nice," said Demi-Veemon.
"I guess so," Patamon replied. "But I don't have a clue as to why it would be there."
"I think I know," said Poromon. Up to now he had been content to let Patamon do all the talking, and was even wondering why he had been asked along. Now he realized he had something to contribute. As Hawkmon he was a touch older than the other Digimon and more wise, and this wisdom would now be useful. He continued.
"Nursury rhymes like that usually refer to something that happened a long time ago. But this one is different. Tentomon told me about it, and he said it refers to something that will happen."
"What's supposed to happen?" asked Demi-Veemon.
"I'm getting to that. The six little bees refer to digimon. The six wildflowers the bees are supposed to look for are the Digidestined. "
"Are those digimon the rhyme refers to supposed to be us?" asked Patamon.
"I think so. Right now there are six of us: you, Demi-Veemon here, me, Upamon, Gatomon, and Cantomon."
Demi-Veemon said nothing; Patamon and Poromon were talking too quickly about too many things he knew nothing about, and was completely lost. But Patamon, older and more knowledgeable in the ways of the Digital World, continued thinking the idea through. "The rhyme says the bees have to go looking for the flowers, but we know where our Digidestined are, so we don't have to go looking for them."
Poromon had to stop and think about this one. Instinctivly he knew the answer, but he had trouble putting it into words. "You're right. But see, the poem has us digimon going out and looking for the Digidestined instead of the other way around. That means it's us that have to do something."
A light came on. "We're doing that right now!" Patamom exclaimed. "By you and me coming over here to talk with Demi-Veemon like this, we're actually doing something ourselves, instead of waiting for the Digidestined to do it first."
"You're right," said Poromon. "I mean, I've never left Yolei behind in this world before."
"And I've never left TK, either. So we are doing something we've never done before."
"Flying away, just like the rhyme says."
"And really flying," said Patamon. "I mean, that's how we got over here."
Finally little Demi-Veemon found a chance to speak. "I don't understand any of this."
Poromon looked at him and said kindly, "Don't worry about that. You'll understand when you get older. Right now it's important for you to know what to do."
"And what's that?"
Patamon answered him. "We need to get all the Digidestined together at that place I was telling you about. I can get TK and his friends there, but I need you to get Davis to go there when you go into the Digital World tomorrow. Do you think you can do that?"
"I can try," replied Demi-Veemon, with determination.
Patamon was relieved almost beyond words. Demi-Veemon's promise to talk to Davis had made this strange, almost mad, trip worth all the risk and tension. "Please try!" he said, trying to reinforce the thought.
"Tell Davis the Digimon Emperor has his base there," said Poromon. "He will go there for sure."
"Where is it?" Demi-Veemon asked. "How will I know where to look?"
"Look around for a forest, then head into it," said Patamon.
"From what Patamon tells me," Poromon added, "that place is pretty big. You should be able to find it with no problem."
"And it's getting stronger every day," Patamon said. "I'd be surprised if you couldn't find it. And remember, this is important. You'll remember, won't you?"
"Sure I will!" exclaimed the little blue digimon.
This time Patamon knew he would. "Thanks, Demi-Veemon! Digiworld is counting on you."
"Thank you," said Poromon. "Now go back to Davis. We will see you
tomorrow, in the Digital World."
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Thank you from both Cyan and Bradmon.