While Joe and Mimi were sitting in a tree, (k-i-s-s-i-n-g sorry, couldn't help it!) Tai had woken up because he thought he heard a noise.
~That sounded like a gunshot~ Tai thought. ~But who would have guns out here? Are there even guns in the Digiworld? Or was that the thunder?~
Soon, he noticed that Joe was missing. "Hey Gomamon, have you seen Joe?"
"Yeah. Over there in Mimi's tree."
"Oh. Hey, did either of you hear something just a little while ago?"
"Nope, just thunder." (Agumon)
~I'll go tell Izzy it's his turn to keep watch~ thought Tai. He climbed out of the tree as fast as he could and ran over to Matt and Izzy's tree. He jumped into the entrance, making sure not to land on Matt.
"Hey, Tai. What's up?"(Izzy)
"It's your turn to keep watch."
"For what? Nothing has attacked us since a month ago, when we lost T.K. and Sora." Matt said, angrily and coldly.
"Yeah, Matt's right. besides, almost everyone's awake right now, so if anything happens we'll all know it."(Izzy) Just then, an arrow shot through the woods and struck just above the entrance to the tree the girls and Joe were in.
"AAAAAAAII"screamed Mimi, terrified. "Joe, what was that? Who shot that arrow at us? Joe, I'm scared." she clung to Joe and started crying softly.
"I am too, don't worry. Let's move over to the side, away from the entrance. We'll be a little more protected. Get Kari up and over to the side too." Mimi proceeded to awaken her, shaking Kari gently.
"Kari, wake up!"
"What is it, Mimi? What's going on?" Kari looked out the entrance and saw the arrow sticking out. "Why's there an arrow over the door?"
"Someone shot it at us. Come over here to the side with us. It'll be safer that way. you too, Palmon and Gatomon."(Joe)
---in Izzy's tree---
"Hey, did you see that?"(Tentomon)
"Sure did. Hey! there's a piece of paper attached to that arrow!"(Gabumon)
"Do you think someone is trying to send a message to us?" (Tai)
"Most likely. If it is a message, then its sender probably won't shoot any more arrows. Just to be safe, nobody leave this tree untill morning, alright?"(Izzy)
"Got it."(Tai)
"Sure thing"(Gabu- and Tentomon)
"Yeah."(Matt) A short while later, Tai, Matt, and the digimon had fallen asleep side by side. Izzy put his computer away and watched the woods through the entrance.
---back in Joe and Mimi's Tree---
"whats that thing hanging off of the arrow?"(palmon)
"It looks like a piece of paper. Should we touch it?"(Kari)
"Go ahead and bring it inside. Let's see what it is."(Joe) Kari leaned out of the tree and turned around to reach the paper. She pulled the arrow out of the tree, then brought it inside. She carefully slid the paper off of the arrow shaft and read it aloud. It read:
To the Digidestined
I have been following your group from a safe distance since we landed in the digiworld. I saw what happened to T.K and Sora. I followed Garudamon and T.K. for a week through the woods until they came to a mountain made from pure ivory. Garudamon opened a door in the side using a magic spell. I followed them inside, and remained there for another week. While there, I discovered a digivice and crest. Someone called Gennai contacted me and told me that these things were mine. he told me that my crest was the crest of Truth and that I was the 9th digidestined child. I would like to tell you that T.K. is in no present danger. Garudamon takes care of him quite well, as if he was its son. As for Sora, she is safe with me. When I left the mountain I found her unconscious a mile south of it. She regained her senses a day after I found her. She is now perfectly fine. She does not know that I know where you or T.K. are located. We shall meet tomorrow.
Signed, Arrow.
"Arrow? I wonder how they got their name."(Joe)
"I think we'll find out tomorrow. We better get some sleep in the meantime. Look! the rain's letting up!"(Palmon) The rain had in fact been letting up. It was no longer pouring hard. The thunder and lightning had stopped altogether. The clouds slowly started to clear up, making a few stars visible in the black sky.
******
the next morning...
When dawn came that morning only one person was still awake. That was Kari. She watched the sun cast pink and golden rays of light on the few clouds left in the sky as it rose. She was still thinking about the letter.
~We should be going right now but I think I'll let everyone sleep a little while longer. Last night was a long night.~ she thought. She looked over at Mimi and Joe. He was sitting against the "wall" with his head down and his arm around Mimi, and she was leaning against him with her head resting on his shoulder. Her hat was lying on Joe's lap. Kari read over the letter again. ~It sounds like Arrow is going to meet up with us no matter where we are. I hope we'll see Sora too.~
---later---
"Hey, can somebody light the fire so I can cook this fish?"(Tai)
"Pepper breath!" (Agumon) A ball of fire shot from Agumon's mouth and set fire to the kindling the kids had piled up. Everyone gathered around it, speared a fish with a stick, and cooked it in the fire.
"I caught these fish!" beamed Palmon.
"You did a good job! I'm so proud of you! (Mimi)
"Kari, what was that piece of paper you took off of the arrow?"(Izzy)
"it was a note. Someone named Arrow sent it. Here. you can read it if you want." She took it out of her pocket and handed it to Izzy. It was folded up many times and had a brownish tint. Izzy read it to the whole group. When he finished, Matt said with tears in his eyes "I'm so glad they're safe. i was so worried about them-"
"We all were Matt, but they're okay now. We'll find them soon. We may even see Sora today if Arrow brings her."Joe said reassuringly.
"How do we know this Arrow's for real, anyway?(Izzy)
"Because if I wanted to harm you, I would have done it last night!" said the person that suddenly appeared behind Izzy. It was a female, with long reddish-brown hair. She was slender and her face had a few freckles. Her green eyes sparkled and she wore a black cloak that flowed behind her. The legs of her black pants were loose and grazed her ankles. Her silk shirt was a deep green and had various tiny flowers embroidered on her long sleeves. She was wearing black moccasins. She held a bow in her left hand. She carried a tan, leather arrow quiver on her back which was filled with arrows.
"Are you Arrow?" inquired Izzy. ~WOW! She's so pretty!~
"Yes. I'm Arrow. We can't wait much longer to save T.K."
"I thought he wasn't in any danger."(Mimi)
"He isn't. Not that kind of danger-"
"WHAT OTHER KIND OF DANGER IS THERE?!"Matt demanded.
"DON'T interrupt me again. He's in danger of not wanting to ever leave. It's like when Mimi was a princess at the gekomon's palace. He's getting attached to Garudamon. This group needs EVERYONE in order to defeat the Dark Masters. If he stays there too long, he won't want to leave. Ever."
"Oh no..." Tears began forming in Matt's eyes. He turned away from the others. He didn't want them to see him cry.
"How'd you know about the gekomon's palace?" (Mimi)
"I followed you guys ever since we landed here."
"Hey how'd you get the name Arrow?"(Tai)
"Watch." She pulled a small apple out of a pocket in her cloak, threw it high in the air, held up her bow and arrow, and shot the apple in mid-air. The bow made a loud snapping noise when Arrow released the arrow. As it was falling through the air she casually held out her hand and caught it. The arrow had pierced it through the exact middle. "The kids at camp gave me the nickname because I was so good at archery."
"Where's Sora?"(patamon)
"I think everyone misses Sora pretty bad. We haven't seen her in a month."
"I told her to wait for me in a clearing next to this one."(Arrow)
"Well then let's go!"(Mimi)
----15 minutes later, at the next clearing----
At the clearing everyone, kids and digimon alike, gathered around Sora.
"Sora!! We've missed you so much! Where have you been?"(Mimi)
"I wandered around in the woods a lot, then I saw this white mountain. i started walking towards it when something hit the back of my head. Thats when i passed out. I've been with Arrow ever since."
"Did you see what hit you?"(Joe)
"Not really. I remember seeing something orange and purple fly over my head just before I passed out though."(Sora)
"Where's Biyomon?"(Tai)
"In that tree right there, sleeping." Sora pointed to a tree behind Matt. Everyone could see a pink body among the leaves in the tree. "Did you guys get any sleep last night?"
"We did!"(all the digimon)
"Mimi and I didn't get much sleep."(Joe) Just then a large rock fell from the sky and landed on Matt's foot.
"YOWW! that hurt!" Matt fell to the ground and clutched his foot, groaning. Sora rushed over to Matt's side and told him to remove his shoe. After doing this, he took his sock off and looked at his foot. It had swollen from the rock's impact, but nothing was bleeding. "Tai, can you help me take Matt to the stream? The water's really cold. Maybe if we stick his foot in the water, it'll help the swelling."
"Yeah. Matt, put one arm around me and put the other arm around Sora. We'll help yuu over to the stream that way. Everyone else, stay here. Matt needs his space."(Tai) Tai and Sora got on each side of Matt and bent over so he could reach them. He put his arms around them like Tai told him to, and the two pulled him up and walked over to the stream. Matt and Sora glanced at each other's eyes.
~I'm kinda enjoying this.~ thought Matt.
When they got there, Sora and Tai eased Matt onto the ground. He put his foot in the water and kept it there. Almost immediately he felt relief from the pain. "Thanks, guys. My foot feels better now. I don't think I can fit it back in my shoe though."
"Keep your foot in the water till I get back. I'm gonna go get your shoe." Tai then left Sora and Matt alone by the stream.
"Sora?" She responded by looking him in the eyes. "About that thing a month ago, I'm so sorry I yelled at you so hard. Please forgive me. I didn't know that it wasn't your Garudamon, and I started acting like a jerk. I-I-"
"Don't worry about it. It's ok. Losing T.k. must have been really hard for you. I forgive you." She smiled at him.
"Last night before the storm started I thought I heard someone crying. Was it you?"
"Yeah." Sora stared down at the ground.
"Why?"
"I really missed everyone. I didn't think I was ever going to see you guys again. When the storm came up, I was getting kind of scared too. I never really liked thunderstorms that much." She said the last sentence with a little smile.
"If it makes you feel any better, I am TERRIFIED of heights. Thats why I get so nervous climbing mountains."
Sora looked into Matt's eyes. ~I care about him so much. How am I going to tell him that I have feelilngs for him?~
"Sora, I need to tell you something before anything else happens. This might sound weird, but I love you. I love you a lot."
"I love you too Matt. When you yelled at me like that, I thought you hated me. " She smiled at him again and sat closer to him. She put her arms around his neck and hugged him. He put his arms around her waist and kissed her lips lightly. As they held each other longer, their kiss grew more passionate and intense. They began kissing each other so hard that Matt fell backwards onto the ground. Sora rolled over on top of him sitting with one knee on each side of him, but being careful not to squish him. She leaned over so that her face was next to his, and they began kissing more passionately than before. Matt moved his hands around her back, and she ran her fingers through his hair, feeling how soft it was.
Suddenly the bushes nearby rustled. Tai popped out, waving Matt's shoe cheerfully.
~That sounded like a gunshot~ Tai thought. ~But who would have guns out here? Are there even guns in the Digiworld? Or was that the thunder?~
Soon, he noticed that Joe was missing. "Hey Gomamon, have you seen Joe?"
"Yeah. Over there in Mimi's tree."
"Oh. Hey, did either of you hear something just a little while ago?"
"Nope, just thunder." (Agumon)
~I'll go tell Izzy it's his turn to keep watch~ thought Tai. He climbed out of the tree as fast as he could and ran over to Matt and Izzy's tree. He jumped into the entrance, making sure not to land on Matt.
"Hey, Tai. What's up?"(Izzy)
"It's your turn to keep watch."
"For what? Nothing has attacked us since a month ago, when we lost T.K. and Sora." Matt said, angrily and coldly.
"Yeah, Matt's right. besides, almost everyone's awake right now, so if anything happens we'll all know it."(Izzy) Just then, an arrow shot through the woods and struck just above the entrance to the tree the girls and Joe were in.
"AAAAAAAII"screamed Mimi, terrified. "Joe, what was that? Who shot that arrow at us? Joe, I'm scared." she clung to Joe and started crying softly.
"I am too, don't worry. Let's move over to the side, away from the entrance. We'll be a little more protected. Get Kari up and over to the side too." Mimi proceeded to awaken her, shaking Kari gently.
"Kari, wake up!"
"What is it, Mimi? What's going on?" Kari looked out the entrance and saw the arrow sticking out. "Why's there an arrow over the door?"
"Someone shot it at us. Come over here to the side with us. It'll be safer that way. you too, Palmon and Gatomon."(Joe)
---in Izzy's tree---
"Hey, did you see that?"(Tentomon)
"Sure did. Hey! there's a piece of paper attached to that arrow!"(Gabumon)
"Do you think someone is trying to send a message to us?" (Tai)
"Most likely. If it is a message, then its sender probably won't shoot any more arrows. Just to be safe, nobody leave this tree untill morning, alright?"(Izzy)
"Got it."(Tai)
"Sure thing"(Gabu- and Tentomon)
"Yeah."(Matt) A short while later, Tai, Matt, and the digimon had fallen asleep side by side. Izzy put his computer away and watched the woods through the entrance.
---back in Joe and Mimi's Tree---
"whats that thing hanging off of the arrow?"(palmon)
"It looks like a piece of paper. Should we touch it?"(Kari)
"Go ahead and bring it inside. Let's see what it is."(Joe) Kari leaned out of the tree and turned around to reach the paper. She pulled the arrow out of the tree, then brought it inside. She carefully slid the paper off of the arrow shaft and read it aloud. It read:
To the Digidestined
I have been following your group from a safe distance since we landed in the digiworld. I saw what happened to T.K and Sora. I followed Garudamon and T.K. for a week through the woods until they came to a mountain made from pure ivory. Garudamon opened a door in the side using a magic spell. I followed them inside, and remained there for another week. While there, I discovered a digivice and crest. Someone called Gennai contacted me and told me that these things were mine. he told me that my crest was the crest of Truth and that I was the 9th digidestined child. I would like to tell you that T.K. is in no present danger. Garudamon takes care of him quite well, as if he was its son. As for Sora, she is safe with me. When I left the mountain I found her unconscious a mile south of it. She regained her senses a day after I found her. She is now perfectly fine. She does not know that I know where you or T.K. are located. We shall meet tomorrow.
Signed, Arrow.
"Arrow? I wonder how they got their name."(Joe)
"I think we'll find out tomorrow. We better get some sleep in the meantime. Look! the rain's letting up!"(Palmon) The rain had in fact been letting up. It was no longer pouring hard. The thunder and lightning had stopped altogether. The clouds slowly started to clear up, making a few stars visible in the black sky.
******
the next morning...
When dawn came that morning only one person was still awake. That was Kari. She watched the sun cast pink and golden rays of light on the few clouds left in the sky as it rose. She was still thinking about the letter.
~We should be going right now but I think I'll let everyone sleep a little while longer. Last night was a long night.~ she thought. She looked over at Mimi and Joe. He was sitting against the "wall" with his head down and his arm around Mimi, and she was leaning against him with her head resting on his shoulder. Her hat was lying on Joe's lap. Kari read over the letter again. ~It sounds like Arrow is going to meet up with us no matter where we are. I hope we'll see Sora too.~
---later---
"Hey, can somebody light the fire so I can cook this fish?"(Tai)
"Pepper breath!" (Agumon) A ball of fire shot from Agumon's mouth and set fire to the kindling the kids had piled up. Everyone gathered around it, speared a fish with a stick, and cooked it in the fire.
"I caught these fish!" beamed Palmon.
"You did a good job! I'm so proud of you! (Mimi)
"Kari, what was that piece of paper you took off of the arrow?"(Izzy)
"it was a note. Someone named Arrow sent it. Here. you can read it if you want." She took it out of her pocket and handed it to Izzy. It was folded up many times and had a brownish tint. Izzy read it to the whole group. When he finished, Matt said with tears in his eyes "I'm so glad they're safe. i was so worried about them-"
"We all were Matt, but they're okay now. We'll find them soon. We may even see Sora today if Arrow brings her."Joe said reassuringly.
"How do we know this Arrow's for real, anyway?(Izzy)
"Because if I wanted to harm you, I would have done it last night!" said the person that suddenly appeared behind Izzy. It was a female, with long reddish-brown hair. She was slender and her face had a few freckles. Her green eyes sparkled and she wore a black cloak that flowed behind her. The legs of her black pants were loose and grazed her ankles. Her silk shirt was a deep green and had various tiny flowers embroidered on her long sleeves. She was wearing black moccasins. She held a bow in her left hand. She carried a tan, leather arrow quiver on her back which was filled with arrows.
"Are you Arrow?" inquired Izzy. ~WOW! She's so pretty!~
"Yes. I'm Arrow. We can't wait much longer to save T.K."
"I thought he wasn't in any danger."(Mimi)
"He isn't. Not that kind of danger-"
"WHAT OTHER KIND OF DANGER IS THERE?!"Matt demanded.
"DON'T interrupt me again. He's in danger of not wanting to ever leave. It's like when Mimi was a princess at the gekomon's palace. He's getting attached to Garudamon. This group needs EVERYONE in order to defeat the Dark Masters. If he stays there too long, he won't want to leave. Ever."
"Oh no..." Tears began forming in Matt's eyes. He turned away from the others. He didn't want them to see him cry.
"How'd you know about the gekomon's palace?" (Mimi)
"I followed you guys ever since we landed here."
"Hey how'd you get the name Arrow?"(Tai)
"Watch." She pulled a small apple out of a pocket in her cloak, threw it high in the air, held up her bow and arrow, and shot the apple in mid-air. The bow made a loud snapping noise when Arrow released the arrow. As it was falling through the air she casually held out her hand and caught it. The arrow had pierced it through the exact middle. "The kids at camp gave me the nickname because I was so good at archery."
"Where's Sora?"(patamon)
"I think everyone misses Sora pretty bad. We haven't seen her in a month."
"I told her to wait for me in a clearing next to this one."(Arrow)
"Well then let's go!"(Mimi)
----15 minutes later, at the next clearing----
At the clearing everyone, kids and digimon alike, gathered around Sora.
"Sora!! We've missed you so much! Where have you been?"(Mimi)
"I wandered around in the woods a lot, then I saw this white mountain. i started walking towards it when something hit the back of my head. Thats when i passed out. I've been with Arrow ever since."
"Did you see what hit you?"(Joe)
"Not really. I remember seeing something orange and purple fly over my head just before I passed out though."(Sora)
"Where's Biyomon?"(Tai)
"In that tree right there, sleeping." Sora pointed to a tree behind Matt. Everyone could see a pink body among the leaves in the tree. "Did you guys get any sleep last night?"
"We did!"(all the digimon)
"Mimi and I didn't get much sleep."(Joe) Just then a large rock fell from the sky and landed on Matt's foot.
"YOWW! that hurt!" Matt fell to the ground and clutched his foot, groaning. Sora rushed over to Matt's side and told him to remove his shoe. After doing this, he took his sock off and looked at his foot. It had swollen from the rock's impact, but nothing was bleeding. "Tai, can you help me take Matt to the stream? The water's really cold. Maybe if we stick his foot in the water, it'll help the swelling."
"Yeah. Matt, put one arm around me and put the other arm around Sora. We'll help yuu over to the stream that way. Everyone else, stay here. Matt needs his space."(Tai) Tai and Sora got on each side of Matt and bent over so he could reach them. He put his arms around them like Tai told him to, and the two pulled him up and walked over to the stream. Matt and Sora glanced at each other's eyes.
~I'm kinda enjoying this.~ thought Matt.
When they got there, Sora and Tai eased Matt onto the ground. He put his foot in the water and kept it there. Almost immediately he felt relief from the pain. "Thanks, guys. My foot feels better now. I don't think I can fit it back in my shoe though."
"Keep your foot in the water till I get back. I'm gonna go get your shoe." Tai then left Sora and Matt alone by the stream.
"Sora?" She responded by looking him in the eyes. "About that thing a month ago, I'm so sorry I yelled at you so hard. Please forgive me. I didn't know that it wasn't your Garudamon, and I started acting like a jerk. I-I-"
"Don't worry about it. It's ok. Losing T.k. must have been really hard for you. I forgive you." She smiled at him.
"Last night before the storm started I thought I heard someone crying. Was it you?"
"Yeah." Sora stared down at the ground.
"Why?"
"I really missed everyone. I didn't think I was ever going to see you guys again. When the storm came up, I was getting kind of scared too. I never really liked thunderstorms that much." She said the last sentence with a little smile.
"If it makes you feel any better, I am TERRIFIED of heights. Thats why I get so nervous climbing mountains."
Sora looked into Matt's eyes. ~I care about him so much. How am I going to tell him that I have feelilngs for him?~
"Sora, I need to tell you something before anything else happens. This might sound weird, but I love you. I love you a lot."
"I love you too Matt. When you yelled at me like that, I thought you hated me. " She smiled at him again and sat closer to him. She put her arms around his neck and hugged him. He put his arms around her waist and kissed her lips lightly. As they held each other longer, their kiss grew more passionate and intense. They began kissing each other so hard that Matt fell backwards onto the ground. Sora rolled over on top of him sitting with one knee on each side of him, but being careful not to squish him. She leaned over so that her face was next to his, and they began kissing more passionately than before. Matt moved his hands around her back, and she ran her fingers through his hair, feeling how soft it was.
Suddenly the bushes nearby rustled. Tai popped out, waving Matt's shoe cheerfully.