Hey peepazoids! Sorry I didn't put an introduction in the first chapter, I forgot! *.*^ Anyways, this is dedicated to ~*Kari*~ (yes, even though she hates Davis as much as I love him, which by the way if I hear any flames about him or dissing in your review, I will flame you or your stories, so keep it to yerself if ya know what's good fer ya) because a loooong time ago when I created the original draft (which by the way, was done very crappily), I showed it to her and she absolutely loved it. She kept on pestering me to finish it, and begged, and pleaded, and even promised to try liking Davis (okay so maybe not *that*…) if only I would finish it. So one day I sat down and decided I'd do it (if you pester me long enough I will eventually complete the story you want). So ~*Kari*~, you had better appreciate this, because a lot of hard work and research went into this to make it accurate!! (Whine to your parents that you're reading something educational if they want you to get off the computer *snicker*) Enjoy!
Daisuke lay on the cold, hard, earth and his leg accidentally jerked something soft next to him. It made a muffled sound. ::Ughhh…what am I doing on the ground…? Oh yeah, the time warp! I can't wait to see what Egypt looks like!:: Eagerly his resin colored eyes flickered, and he saw the outline of a black treetop against an even darker sky. ::Huh? I thought they didn't have trees in--:: "WHAT?! I'm in Japan?!" he shouted aloud as he jumped up from the sidewalk. "It's not fair!" he sulked, kicking the tree with his toe. "Oww! Why did I have to get stuck back in the future?" he moaned as he sank to the ground. "I'm not with Tai, I'm not with Yolei, I'm not with Kari or even--wait a sec--who's to say Kari isn't here too?! We could be stuck here together--all alone! Yes! It's like a dream come true!" the boy crawled over to the bush he landed besides. "Hey Kari--you in there?" he asked into it. The leaves rustled and a ruffled boy Daisuke's age poked a shaggy blonde head out of the shrub. Leaves and twigs clung to his hair and both of them exclaimed,
"Not you! What are you doing here? I asked you first!"
"You ruined my date with Kari!"
"*Your* date?" Takeru spat.
"Yeah, *my* date. So you just crawl back into that bush of yours and head off to Egypt or wherever it was,"
"I *would* if I *could*," the boy mumbled. "That's where Kari is now,"
"Oh yeah? And how would you know--P.S.!?"
Rolling his blue eyes he said, "Come on, don't be so dumb. She's Kari--the special Eight Child of Light. Of course she'd be picked to go. I just didn't expect to be left behind. I mean, I *am* her other half,"
"Oh no! What about Kari! Who's gonna take care of Kari?! What if—
"Cool it Davis. If anything, Kari has more experience than you—and more brains," Takeru added.
"Was that an insult, A.T.M.?! Well it doesn't matter because you might be her other half, but I'm her better half," Daisuke said smugly.
"Whatever," The boy muttered, letting him have the benefit of the doubt. "Now help me outta here," so together they pushed and pulled until at last Takeru came tumbling out of the hedge and was sprawled on the ground. "Thanks for helping," he said as he picked debris off of himself. "But that shove you gave me earlier wasn't much appreciated,"
"Aw no problem. Hey--do you hear that?" the two stopped to listen, and soon heard another voice.
"Hey guys! Over here!"
"It's Joe!" they both said.
"I got left behind too--but come quick--you've gotta see this!"
The last thing Mimi remembered was falling…or maybe riding--down a steep incline in the warp. Butterflies grew in her stomach, then fluttered higher, and higher, and suddenly a bright wall of light engulfed her and she was submerged in darkness. The atmosphere was hot and the noise of busy people became familiar to her as she realized that great amounts of weight and pressure was crushing her and her eyes flew open as a pair of cerulean ones came into focus. The eyes fluttered for a moment and she realized their owner was laying right on top of her. Mimi shrieked.
"Oh--my--Go--" Hikari's leg whapped her in the face.
"Huh…?" The boy raised his head slightly.
"AH! What are you doing on top of me Matt!" Mimi shrieked again as she began squirming with Sora and Taichi under her, and the rest of the gang heaped on top and all around.
"That's what I'd like to--know…oh crap…" Taichi moaned as he heard one of his body parts pop.
Iori kicked Miyako off the top pile and she rolled down besides a recuperating Koushiro, miraculously doing no damage to her Digi-Egg. Paying no heed to him or anyone else, she excitedly stood up and surveyed the landscape around her. ::A city? Marketplace?:: she guessed. It was bustling with the activity of industrious shopkeepers and bargainers going on with their daily business. All along the white walls of surrounding mud houses, booths had been assembled with their wares or services to sell. Not much color was there to look at for most everyone wore white linen, as did the cloth roofs over their tiny shops. Tongues spoke in a foreign manner, but to Miyako's surprise, she could understand the people perfectly. Little children with their bare brown bodies and heads half shaved, chased one another around the open air villa.
The hot yellow sand beneath her sensitive feet reached the point of irritation, so she began walking to alleviate discomfort, hugging her egg against her safely. Wandering off from the group a little ways, she stopped by a stall where several people were gathered. In the middle of the hubbub, the keeper and customer were haggling skillfully over prices. Miyako found herself becoming a part of the crowd and before she knew it, she was absorbed into the exciting scene...
By this time, everyone had untangled themselves and began to stand up, brushing themselves off and trying to forget about the embarrassing positions they were all in a few minutes earlier.
"Wow, just look at all those people," Hikari said in awe as she kneeled to pick up her spotted shell.
"Everything's so different…" Koushiro agreed, trading Digi-Eggs with Taichi.
"Where's Yolei? Did she not make it?" Hikari worried.
"No, I remember she landed right on top of me," Iori said disdainfully. "Look, she's over there,"
"I'll go bring her back," Koushiro volunteered as he set out to find her.
"Check this out--" Sora said, holding her unborn partner in one hand, "I'm wearing some white dress thing!" Taichi began looking at himself all over to make sure he was still the same. Then he began intently gazing at something. "You know Tai, you don't look so bad in that," Sora giggled, looking at his knee length cloth. "Hey…what are you staring at?"
"Look…" He showed her the back of his hand. A bluish ink mark in the shape of a circle with a line directly underneath it was right in the middle.
"Wh-what is it?" she asked, her cherry eyes growing alarmed.
"I don't know…" Sora held up her hand next to his and gasped.
"It has the same mark--almost," the only slight difference was a small dot inside the circle.
"Everyone!" Taichi instructed. "Show me the back of your left hand!" They turned their palms away form them and found marks identical to Sora's.
"Oh no!" Mimi cried. "What can this mean?" she licked her finger and tried rubbing it off. "We've been tattooed!"
"What about the others?" Hikari asked.
"Yeah, Izzy and Yolei," Yamato remembered.
"They probably have the same symbol too," Sora said thoughtfully. "Where did they go?"
"I don't know, but we need to find some shade quick," Iori said, shielding his eyes from the bright white sun, "Our eggs might hatch from the heat and we haven't even found a place to hide them,"
"Yes, and my skin is going to peel worse than a facial mask if I stand here any longer," Mimi added. They sought shelter in the shadow of a whitewashed home and pondered their next decision as they cooled off.
"Did you notice anyone looking strangely at us?" Hikari brought up.
"Not in particular. Why?" her older brother asked.
"Well, I saw a few people giving us odd stares. Perhaps it's because our appearances are different," she guessed.
"I think you're right. We better find ways to look less conspicuous," Yamato said.
"No…" Sora trailed off in thought, "I don't think so. If I remember correctly, they had Greek slaves, and we look--"
"--Like Greek slaves," everyone cut off.
"Um, that's not exactly what I had in mind," Sora said as she gave a nervous laugh. "But on second thought, maybe it *would* be a good idea after all to make a few modifications to ourselves…"
"Right. Let's see…we need that eyeliner stuff," Yamato began as they left their shady retreat.
"I'm not so sure about that," Hikari said. "Izzy would know,"
"But where's the genius when you need him!" Taichi exclaimed. "He and Yolei have been gone way too long. Someone needs to find them and bring them back,"
"I'll go," Iori offered. Taichi granted him leave, but warned him he better not disappear like the others. With a nod of a promise, the youngest member of the group began walking into the crowd with his egg.
"Oh my goodness--someone needs to call social services! I can't believe any parent would just let their children run around naked like that!" Mimi gasped as an unclothed girl about nine years of age chased some chickens into a pen.
"Mimi, none of the young children wore clothes then. It's hot, and this is a desert. Don't you remember any history?" Sora asked.
"Well I guess I always thought they were like, kidding or something…" Mimi said disbelievingly.
"Mimi!" Tai groaned.
"Look--one of those stands over there are carrying tubes and powdered cosmetics," Sora pointed out.
"WHERE?" Mimi energetically asked, almost dropping her Digi-Egg, "Is it Este Lauder or Max Factor? I really need some more foundation!"
"Oh please," Hikari sighed.
Mimi sniffed delicately. "For your information, I was only pretending,"
"Oh my gosh. Historical event of the century--Mimi was smart enough to invent a joke," Yamato teased as Iori and Miyako began heading back with Koushiro.
During the time those two were provoking one another, Sora began to contemplate their options. ::The Egyptians didn't have any legal tender. They bartered and traded, but what do we have that we can use?:: Just then, six large men began worming their way through the swarming thongs of people towards the DigiDestened. Someone in the crowd bumped into Taichi.
"Hey my DigiEgg!" Taichi shouted and ran after his egg, watching helplessly as careless feet kicked and shoved it in the sand and becoming entangled with the multitude. A creepy crinkle rolled down Sora's spine as she spied the rough looking bunch nearing them from the corner of her eye and she knew they were up to no good. Thinking franticly, she hit upon the money solution while absently watching Taichi, ::That's it! Beads!:: Sora remembered beads could be very valuable in ancient societies. She fumbled with the bracelet on her wrist and spotted Mimi's anklet, yanking it off as the men came closer.
"KOUSHIRO! CATCH!" She yelled, throwing it to the surprised boy. "CURRENCY! GO, HURRY!" Was all she had time to say before the men circled around the group of surprised adolescences. Iori followed his older advisor, but Miyako dashed across the hot dunes to rescue her friends.
"YOLEI, NO!" Koushiro shouted, grabbing her wrist. "The only way to save them is to first save ourselves!"
"Izzy--this is no time--to be selfish!" She struggled, trying to pry his fingers off.
"You don't understand! Sora has a good reason for us to retreat so listen to your mentor! Our Digimon haven't even hatched yet--now let's run!"
"Well, well, just look what we have here! Part of the new shipment of slaves Ishtu told us we would find in the marketplace!" A grotesquely obese Egyptian with a shiny bald head, narrowed his beady black eyes on the children. Laughing sourly, he snapped his whip just for the pleasure of it, and turned over their left hands to check for marks.
"Uh…slaves?" Yamato gulped.
"What kind of a loser are you? You think you were dragged from your home country for a joy-ride?" a man sneered. Sora subtly crushed the boy's toes in the sand and mouthed 'play dumb' to him and the others.
"Hey look, we got a pretty one boss," the one holding Mimi said as he began to tie her wrists.
"Tai! Where are you!" Yamato yelled in Japanese.
"Shut up!" The man said.
"And stop squirmin' if you know what's good for ya," the leader pointed to Hikari with his instrument of tourture.
"Got any stuff with them?"
"Uhh…yeah boss, some egg thingies over there," Yamato's captor told him.
"Fine, fine," The fat man said rubbing his hands greedily.
"Those things and these slaves should fetch some high prices at auction!" He cackled menacingly as he cracked the lash above their heads.
"Now MOVE!"
Daisuke lay on the cold, hard, earth and his leg accidentally jerked something soft next to him. It made a muffled sound. ::Ughhh…what am I doing on the ground…? Oh yeah, the time warp! I can't wait to see what Egypt looks like!:: Eagerly his resin colored eyes flickered, and he saw the outline of a black treetop against an even darker sky. ::Huh? I thought they didn't have trees in--:: "WHAT?! I'm in Japan?!" he shouted aloud as he jumped up from the sidewalk. "It's not fair!" he sulked, kicking the tree with his toe. "Oww! Why did I have to get stuck back in the future?" he moaned as he sank to the ground. "I'm not with Tai, I'm not with Yolei, I'm not with Kari or even--wait a sec--who's to say Kari isn't here too?! We could be stuck here together--all alone! Yes! It's like a dream come true!" the boy crawled over to the bush he landed besides. "Hey Kari--you in there?" he asked into it. The leaves rustled and a ruffled boy Daisuke's age poked a shaggy blonde head out of the shrub. Leaves and twigs clung to his hair and both of them exclaimed,
"Not you! What are you doing here? I asked you first!"
"You ruined my date with Kari!"
"*Your* date?" Takeru spat.
"Yeah, *my* date. So you just crawl back into that bush of yours and head off to Egypt or wherever it was,"
"I *would* if I *could*," the boy mumbled. "That's where Kari is now,"
"Oh yeah? And how would you know--P.S.!?"
Rolling his blue eyes he said, "Come on, don't be so dumb. She's Kari--the special Eight Child of Light. Of course she'd be picked to go. I just didn't expect to be left behind. I mean, I *am* her other half,"
"Oh no! What about Kari! Who's gonna take care of Kari?! What if—
"Cool it Davis. If anything, Kari has more experience than you—and more brains," Takeru added.
"Was that an insult, A.T.M.?! Well it doesn't matter because you might be her other half, but I'm her better half," Daisuke said smugly.
"Whatever," The boy muttered, letting him have the benefit of the doubt. "Now help me outta here," so together they pushed and pulled until at last Takeru came tumbling out of the hedge and was sprawled on the ground. "Thanks for helping," he said as he picked debris off of himself. "But that shove you gave me earlier wasn't much appreciated,"
"Aw no problem. Hey--do you hear that?" the two stopped to listen, and soon heard another voice.
"Hey guys! Over here!"
"It's Joe!" they both said.
"I got left behind too--but come quick--you've gotta see this!"
The last thing Mimi remembered was falling…or maybe riding--down a steep incline in the warp. Butterflies grew in her stomach, then fluttered higher, and higher, and suddenly a bright wall of light engulfed her and she was submerged in darkness. The atmosphere was hot and the noise of busy people became familiar to her as she realized that great amounts of weight and pressure was crushing her and her eyes flew open as a pair of cerulean ones came into focus. The eyes fluttered for a moment and she realized their owner was laying right on top of her. Mimi shrieked.
"Oh--my--Go--" Hikari's leg whapped her in the face.
"Huh…?" The boy raised his head slightly.
"AH! What are you doing on top of me Matt!" Mimi shrieked again as she began squirming with Sora and Taichi under her, and the rest of the gang heaped on top and all around.
"That's what I'd like to--know…oh crap…" Taichi moaned as he heard one of his body parts pop.
Iori kicked Miyako off the top pile and she rolled down besides a recuperating Koushiro, miraculously doing no damage to her Digi-Egg. Paying no heed to him or anyone else, she excitedly stood up and surveyed the landscape around her. ::A city? Marketplace?:: she guessed. It was bustling with the activity of industrious shopkeepers and bargainers going on with their daily business. All along the white walls of surrounding mud houses, booths had been assembled with their wares or services to sell. Not much color was there to look at for most everyone wore white linen, as did the cloth roofs over their tiny shops. Tongues spoke in a foreign manner, but to Miyako's surprise, she could understand the people perfectly. Little children with their bare brown bodies and heads half shaved, chased one another around the open air villa.
The hot yellow sand beneath her sensitive feet reached the point of irritation, so she began walking to alleviate discomfort, hugging her egg against her safely. Wandering off from the group a little ways, she stopped by a stall where several people were gathered. In the middle of the hubbub, the keeper and customer were haggling skillfully over prices. Miyako found herself becoming a part of the crowd and before she knew it, she was absorbed into the exciting scene...
By this time, everyone had untangled themselves and began to stand up, brushing themselves off and trying to forget about the embarrassing positions they were all in a few minutes earlier.
"Wow, just look at all those people," Hikari said in awe as she kneeled to pick up her spotted shell.
"Everything's so different…" Koushiro agreed, trading Digi-Eggs with Taichi.
"Where's Yolei? Did she not make it?" Hikari worried.
"No, I remember she landed right on top of me," Iori said disdainfully. "Look, she's over there,"
"I'll go bring her back," Koushiro volunteered as he set out to find her.
"Check this out--" Sora said, holding her unborn partner in one hand, "I'm wearing some white dress thing!" Taichi began looking at himself all over to make sure he was still the same. Then he began intently gazing at something. "You know Tai, you don't look so bad in that," Sora giggled, looking at his knee length cloth. "Hey…what are you staring at?"
"Look…" He showed her the back of his hand. A bluish ink mark in the shape of a circle with a line directly underneath it was right in the middle.
"Wh-what is it?" she asked, her cherry eyes growing alarmed.
"I don't know…" Sora held up her hand next to his and gasped.
"It has the same mark--almost," the only slight difference was a small dot inside the circle.
"Everyone!" Taichi instructed. "Show me the back of your left hand!" They turned their palms away form them and found marks identical to Sora's.
"Oh no!" Mimi cried. "What can this mean?" she licked her finger and tried rubbing it off. "We've been tattooed!"
"What about the others?" Hikari asked.
"Yeah, Izzy and Yolei," Yamato remembered.
"They probably have the same symbol too," Sora said thoughtfully. "Where did they go?"
"I don't know, but we need to find some shade quick," Iori said, shielding his eyes from the bright white sun, "Our eggs might hatch from the heat and we haven't even found a place to hide them,"
"Yes, and my skin is going to peel worse than a facial mask if I stand here any longer," Mimi added. They sought shelter in the shadow of a whitewashed home and pondered their next decision as they cooled off.
"Did you notice anyone looking strangely at us?" Hikari brought up.
"Not in particular. Why?" her older brother asked.
"Well, I saw a few people giving us odd stares. Perhaps it's because our appearances are different," she guessed.
"I think you're right. We better find ways to look less conspicuous," Yamato said.
"No…" Sora trailed off in thought, "I don't think so. If I remember correctly, they had Greek slaves, and we look--"
"--Like Greek slaves," everyone cut off.
"Um, that's not exactly what I had in mind," Sora said as she gave a nervous laugh. "But on second thought, maybe it *would* be a good idea after all to make a few modifications to ourselves…"
"Right. Let's see…we need that eyeliner stuff," Yamato began as they left their shady retreat.
"I'm not so sure about that," Hikari said. "Izzy would know,"
"But where's the genius when you need him!" Taichi exclaimed. "He and Yolei have been gone way too long. Someone needs to find them and bring them back,"
"I'll go," Iori offered. Taichi granted him leave, but warned him he better not disappear like the others. With a nod of a promise, the youngest member of the group began walking into the crowd with his egg.
"Oh my goodness--someone needs to call social services! I can't believe any parent would just let their children run around naked like that!" Mimi gasped as an unclothed girl about nine years of age chased some chickens into a pen.
"Mimi, none of the young children wore clothes then. It's hot, and this is a desert. Don't you remember any history?" Sora asked.
"Well I guess I always thought they were like, kidding or something…" Mimi said disbelievingly.
"Mimi!" Tai groaned.
"Look--one of those stands over there are carrying tubes and powdered cosmetics," Sora pointed out.
"WHERE?" Mimi energetically asked, almost dropping her Digi-Egg, "Is it Este Lauder or Max Factor? I really need some more foundation!"
"Oh please," Hikari sighed.
Mimi sniffed delicately. "For your information, I was only pretending,"
"Oh my gosh. Historical event of the century--Mimi was smart enough to invent a joke," Yamato teased as Iori and Miyako began heading back with Koushiro.
During the time those two were provoking one another, Sora began to contemplate their options. ::The Egyptians didn't have any legal tender. They bartered and traded, but what do we have that we can use?:: Just then, six large men began worming their way through the swarming thongs of people towards the DigiDestened. Someone in the crowd bumped into Taichi.
"Hey my DigiEgg!" Taichi shouted and ran after his egg, watching helplessly as careless feet kicked and shoved it in the sand and becoming entangled with the multitude. A creepy crinkle rolled down Sora's spine as she spied the rough looking bunch nearing them from the corner of her eye and she knew they were up to no good. Thinking franticly, she hit upon the money solution while absently watching Taichi, ::That's it! Beads!:: Sora remembered beads could be very valuable in ancient societies. She fumbled with the bracelet on her wrist and spotted Mimi's anklet, yanking it off as the men came closer.
"KOUSHIRO! CATCH!" She yelled, throwing it to the surprised boy. "CURRENCY! GO, HURRY!" Was all she had time to say before the men circled around the group of surprised adolescences. Iori followed his older advisor, but Miyako dashed across the hot dunes to rescue her friends.
"YOLEI, NO!" Koushiro shouted, grabbing her wrist. "The only way to save them is to first save ourselves!"
"Izzy--this is no time--to be selfish!" She struggled, trying to pry his fingers off.
"You don't understand! Sora has a good reason for us to retreat so listen to your mentor! Our Digimon haven't even hatched yet--now let's run!"
"Well, well, just look what we have here! Part of the new shipment of slaves Ishtu told us we would find in the marketplace!" A grotesquely obese Egyptian with a shiny bald head, narrowed his beady black eyes on the children. Laughing sourly, he snapped his whip just for the pleasure of it, and turned over their left hands to check for marks.
"Uh…slaves?" Yamato gulped.
"What kind of a loser are you? You think you were dragged from your home country for a joy-ride?" a man sneered. Sora subtly crushed the boy's toes in the sand and mouthed 'play dumb' to him and the others.
"Hey look, we got a pretty one boss," the one holding Mimi said as he began to tie her wrists.
"Tai! Where are you!" Yamato yelled in Japanese.
"Shut up!" The man said.
"And stop squirmin' if you know what's good for ya," the leader pointed to Hikari with his instrument of tourture.
"Got any stuff with them?"
"Uhh…yeah boss, some egg thingies over there," Yamato's captor told him.
"Fine, fine," The fat man said rubbing his hands greedily.
"Those things and these slaves should fetch some high prices at auction!" He cackled menacingly as he cracked the lash above their heads.
"Now MOVE!"
