Disclaimer: We do not own Digimon, we just like writing about them.
TAI AND THE ENCHANTED BLACKBERRY
CHAPTER ONE
By Fenris5000—Angelica
"Can we stop yet?" Mimi asked with a horrendous sigh. "My feet hurt."
Tai rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "Mimi, that's the ninth time in the last fifteen minutes you've asked the same question. I already told you, we couldn't stop until we reach the Emerald Glade."
"But I'm tired and hungry." She whined.
"She's right Tai." Matt agreed. "We've been walking for hours. When Gennai told us to get to the Emerald Glade, I doubt he meant we had to get there today." He cast a worried glance at his younger brother TK who had not complained once during the excursion, but did look like he was ready to topple over either from fatigue or hunger; maybe both.
Tai stopped and eyed his companions skeptically, then shrugged his shoulders. "Alright, alright. I get the feeling you'd all mutiny if I didn't stop anyway." He took out his pocket telescope and aimed it further into the forest. "Hey! I think I've found the perfect spot to spend the night!" He informed them with a huge grin that showed nearly every tooth in his head.
"Lead on Tai." Izzy smiled, much relieved. He had a new program from Gennai that he had been looking forward to dissecting. All this walking was taking up valuable laptop time.
Joe grunted, hefting his bag over his shoulder. "Finally."
Sora smiled. "Gee, I hope there's something good to eat around. I'm starving."
Matt hoisted TK up onto his shoulders for a piggyback ride. "Okay, we're nearly there."
TK and Patamon yawned in unison. "I'm glad." TK said sleepily. "I don't think I could have walked another step." He held on to Matt's neck and leaned his head against his brother's back, closing his eyes.
Matt grinned. "Hey, don't you go to sleep up there, you still have to have something to eat first."
"You're the best, Matt." TK said, perking up a little. "Hey, we'd better get going or we'll lose the rest of them."
TK was right, with renewed energy; the rest of the digidestined had high-tailed it to the perfect spot Tai had been so excited about.
The forest floor was carpeted in a thick soft mossy green grass. A pleasant little brook burbled gently along the east edge of the campsite. Fruit trees grew here and there, dripping exotic colored treasures from their heavy branches. Bushes adorned with large berries like Christmas lights beckoned the children in.
"Wow." Sora's eyes bulged as they drank in the wondrous sight around her.
Matt stopped and let TK and Patamon down. Wow was right. "Well Tai, it looks like you finally managed to do something right for a change." He sat down on the soft ground and leaned up against a tree. Even the tree felt comfortable.
Tai scowled. "I happen to do a lot of things right, Matt, and don't you forget it." He put his hands on his hips and stuck his chin out. "And if this place wasn't so great, I'd kick your butt for saying that."
Matt's eyelids fluttered closed. He'd get something to eat later, what he really needed was a quick catnap. He sensed Gabumon, TK and Patamon joining him under the tree, TK laid down, curling up next to his big brother.
"I thought you guys all said you were hungry!" Tai yelled, throwing up his hands in frustration. All the rest of the digidestined as well as their digimon, including Tai's own Agumon, were following Matt's example and finding a comfy place to curl up and doze.
"We'll have some sustenance later." Izzy moaned with a sleepy smile. "Come on Tai, it's not like we won't be able to find any food tonight." He sighed contently and closed his eyes.
Tai rolled his eyes. "Well fine. Be that way. I'll explore our campsite by myself. I'll be the first to find the tastiest food. Maybe there won't be any left after you all wake up."
"Don't be silly Tai." Mimi giggled sleepily. "You're not that big a pig."
Tai grunted, looking around. Well he was hungry. Where would he start? Everything looked so good; he almost couldn't decide what to try first. Then a thick bush loaded with big juicy blackberries caught his eye. "Cool! Blackberries. My favorite!" Tai picked one and quickly popped it into his mouth. "Oh yuck!" He stated with a grimace after swallowing. The berry left a bitter aftertaste in his mouth, as well as leaving him feeling numb all over. "Oh no, poison…" His eyes rolled up in his head and he collapsed to the ground, face first.
* * *
Joe's eyes slowly opened and he smothered a huge yawn. There was nothing like a good fifteen-minute nap to restore energy. He sat up and glanced around at his friends stretched out still sleeping. Even Tai had succumbed to the lure of the sandmon. He stood up and stretched, "I can't believe I'm the first one up." He said. He looked over at the trees as his stomach growled, reminding him that it was time to explore the food in the area.
"Ouch!" Gomamon yelped. Joe tripped over the little white digimon.
"Shhh!" Joe hissed. "Sorry." He got up and looked around. The rest of the digidestined and digimon were now showing signs of waking up.
Mimi sat up and yawned, nearly bopping Agumon in the nose.
"Hey!"
"Sorry."
TK got up and started running around. "Come on Patamon, let's find something to eat!" He squealed excitedly. "Can we Matt?"
Matt got up, rubbing his eyes. "Sure TK, just let me look at it before you eat it."
Gabumon sat quietly gazing around him in awe. In all his life, he had never heard of this wondrous place.
"It all seems too good to be true." Sora grinned, whirling around to see it all.
Izzy looked around. "A little paradise never hurt anyone." He reached for a shiny bright red piece of fruit from the closest tree but halted abruptly.
"Okay!" Tai yelled, clapping his hands. "Rest time is officially over. Grab your stuff and let's go."
"What?" Matt asked, walking up to Tai. "You're kidding, right?"
Tai stood straighter. "Nope. I've given it some thought, and I've decided we need to get a little further before we stop for the night."
"You've decided?" Matt inquired quietly. "You mean the rest of us don't have a say in the matter?"
"What's to say?" Tai asked evenly. "We are leaving. Now."
Izzy looked over from the tree. "But Tai, we're nearly out of daylight. And you said it yourself. This IS the perfect spot to make camp."
Tai raised both eyebrows. "I lied." He started clapping his hands again. "Okay, I'm only gonna say this one more time: Grab your stuff, we are leaving."
"We are not leaving, Tai." Matt fumed. "Look at everybody. They are all so tired, they won't last five minutes on a hike, plus you haven't given anyone a chance to have something to eat."
Tai's face reddened. "Is it my fault that you guys all decided to have a nap instead of food?" He slapped his hand across his knee. "Now come on before it really starts getting dark." He folded his arms and waited, tapping his foot.
"You are being such a jerk Tai. There is no way TK can walk any further." Matt said angrily, eyeing his little brother, who's eyes popped open wider at the sound of his name. He hated it when Matt and Tai fought.
"I…I…I'll be okay Matt." TK smiled, tugging at his big brother's green shirt, trying not to sound as sleepy as he felt.
Tai watched as everyone slowly got up to join them. He smirked. "See Matt? I told you."
Matt sighed and looked over the rest of his friends. With the exception of Tai, everyone looked as done in as Matt felt. They had been walking all day, and it had been hot. Their digimon did not look much better. Palmon had even started to look on the wilted side.
Tai reached the edge of the clearing and turned around. "Well come on you guys. We have a lot of ground to cover before we make camp for the night."
Matt watched as everyone trudged after their fearless leader. Something seemed to be wrong. I looked like Tai was leading them in the wrong direction.
"Tai!" He yelled, stomping after the group. "Hold up a minute."
TK looked up at his brother. Oh no, Matt was going to start another fight with Tai. He counted silently on his fingers. That would make four arguments today, not including the one that had mostly been a joke when the two were criticizing each other's hair. If they had not run out of pinecones when they did, it could have gotten messy.
The little boy grabbed his brother's leg when he got closer and forced him to stop. "Please don't fight, Matt." TK begged, his eyes filling with tears.
Matt frowned down at his little brother. "TK let go. I need to talk to Tai."
Tai had stopped and turned, tapping his foot. "Today guys. Remember?"
"Where are we going?" Matt inquired, raising one eyebrow.
Tai rolled his eyes. "Come on Matt, don't tell me you've forgotten already. Emerald Glade."
"Then why are we going in a new direction?"
Izzy sat down with his laptop and started clicking away at the keyboard. "He's right guys, we're going northeast. Our original direction was northwest."
"You guys ever hear of a shortcut?" Tai said, turning around. "Okay, question period is officially over, it's time to move on." He started hiking briskly in a northeasterly direction
"Well?" Matt asked, looking at Izzy. "Do you think he's taking us on a wild goose chase?"
Izzy cleared his throat. "Well, though unlikely, it IS possible Gennai may have given Tai some extra info while the rest of us were preoccupied. I can't see Tai purposefully leading us astray. He knows how important this is. I think we should follow him. He seems to know exactly where he is taking us."
Joe nodded. "That is a good plan."
Sora and Mimi both agreed as well. TK finally let go of Matt's leg and looked up at him. "Come on Matt. As long as we're all together, everything will be okay."
Matt frowned. "Alright. Fine. We'll follow him, but I sure hope I don't have to say 'I told you so' later."
The straggling digidestined and their digimon raced to catch up to their leader, who did not even seem to notice they had stopped to take a vote.
They walked for a good hour without incident.
"Okay everybody." Tai stopped with a smirk. "It's nearly time to stop for the night." He held up a hand. "As soon as we get across this river."
Everyone turned their attention to the torrent of water roaring past them. It was about twenty feet across at this point. A log lay across it invitingly as a bridge.
Tai jumped up onto the log. "Come on everyone, let's go." He led the way confidently across the log. Once across, he hopped down and grinned. "Okay, who's next?"
The rest of the group exchanged worried glances.
"What if I fall in?" TK asked quietly. "I can't swim very good." His eyes were as big as saucers.
"I'll dive in after you TK." Matt said, just as softly. The water looked dangerously fast though. If anyone fell in, would he be able to grab them in time?
Izzy frowned. 'What if I fall in? My laptop will be toast.' He thought.
"My hair would be ruined if I fell in." Mimi cried. "I can't. No. There has to be another way across, there just has to be." She stuck her lower lip out in a pout and crossed her arms.
"Oh Mimi." Palmon said with a flowery smile. "I'll protect you."
"Really Palmon?" Mimi asked with shining wet eyes.
Sora got up on the log and gulped. Biyomon floated gently on the breeze beside her. "You can do it Sora. It'll be a piece of digicake."
Sora smiled weakly. "Digicake, huh? You'll have to bake me one some time." She started across the log, both arms out for balance. 'Gee, this isn't so hard after all if you don't think about the water underneath.' She made it across and hopped down next to Tai. "Come on you guys—it's a piece of digicake." She yelled back over the roar of the river.
Joe rolled his eyes, readjusting the strap of his bag over his shoulder. "Huh. More like a pie being thrown at you. I hate getting wet, I really do." Gomamon hopped up next to him.
"Don't worry Joe, if you fall in, I'll save you." The little white digimon with the purple markings and orange hair said happily. "I love the water."
"Then why don't you swim me across?" Joe asked, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
Gomamon did a double take. "Well, I don't want to get wet and cold right now." He edged past Joe and started across the bridge. Joe shrugged and joined him, mumbling something about stupid logs. Agumon jumped up behind them and followed.
After one close call in which Agumon had caught the hiccups suddenly and nearly singed Joe's running shoe, causing him to teeter for a second, the three made it across, each breathing a silent sigh of relief.
"Well, if Joe can make it, I guess I can." Izzy stated, scrambling up onto the log. Tentomon buzzed beside him.
"Of course you can make it."
Mimi crawled up after them. "I'm coming too. I don't want to be last!" Palmon followed closely, read to throw her poison ivy vines out, just in case. They made it across and Mimi flopped down on the soft grass, emotionally drained.
"Come on Matt, TK, Gabumon and Patamon." Tai yelled out across. "You guys are holding up the show!"
Matt bent down to eye level with TK. "Okay squirt. There's nothing to it. Just keep your eyes ahead and your arms out like this for balance." He demonstrated.
TK smiled. "I'll be okay big bro. I'm not s.s.scared."
Matt patted him on the head. "I know you're not scared. But if you were a little, that would be okay." He helped TK up onto the log. "Gabumon, you go ahead first in case TK needs something to hold on to."
Gabumon smiled amiably. "Just grab onto my fur and follow me TK."
TK laughed. "Hey this is going to be fun." He twined his fingers through the digimon's blue and white striped fur and followed close. Patamon stayed as still as a statue on his usual perch atop TK's head.
Matt noticed TK's knapsack left behind and picked it up. He shrugged it on, loosening a buckle so it would fit better. When he looked up, he saw Gabumon and TK had nearly reached the end of the log. Once they crossed, Tai leaped up onto the log and began jumping up and down.
"Hey come on Matt, let's get this show on the road already!"
Matt frowned at Tai's antics as he jumped up onto the log. "Okay, okay, I'm coming. Calm down, Tai."
He followed Tai the jumping bean across nearly to the end of the log, he was about three quarters of the way when Tai finally jumped down, making the log bounce off it's limb that kept it in one place. Matt felt the log roll off of its side and he went right along with it, diving into the frigid current. He came up for air a little ways away and blinked the water from his eyes.
"Matt! Watch out!" TK yelled from far away. At least he sounded far away. Matt struggled to turn, and to his horror, saw the log coming at him. He grabbed it as it swung by, nearly pulling his arms from their sockets.
"Matt! You're going the wrong way!" Tai yelled over the roar of the river.
No kidding.
"Gabumon!" Matt managed to splutter. "Help!"
In a flash, Gabumon digivolved to Garurumon and was in the water at his digidestined's side. "Climb on Matt."
Matt grasped Garurumon's fur painfully and lifted himself onto the large white and blue striped wolf digimon's back with a groan. His muscles were sore and he was cold to the bone.
Garurumon swam strongly to the shore where the rest of the digidestined waited with worried faces.
"Matt!" TK yelled, launching himself at his soaked brother once the older blond had slid shakily from his champion digimon's back. "I thought you were a goner for sure!" He sobbed.
Matt grinned through chattering teeth. "You can't get rid of me that easily, squirt." His smile faded, as he stood straighter and glared at their leader. "What's the matter with you, Tai?" He had his hand balled into a fist and looked like he was getting ready to send Tai on a one-way trip to Knuckle Junction.
"What are you talking about, Matt?" Tai laughed. "You think I'd actually do anything awful like that to a friend on purpose?"
Matt's eyes flashed angrily. "It sure looked like it to me." He said in a deadly quiet tone.
"Well you're mistaken." Tai said in an agitated voice. "It was an accident. I promise. I'm sorry you fell in, okay?"
Matt crossed his arms across his chest and turned away; not ready to accept Tai's apology yet. He was starting to feel awfully cold.
"Come on you two." Sora got between them. "Let's go get camp set up, then we can talk this out."
Tai's face lifted. "Yeah. That's a great idea Sora."
Garurumon digivolved back to Gabumon and took Matt's arm in his paw. "Come on Matt, I'll build you a nice hot fire so you can dry off and warm up a little." The slight blue tint around Matt's lips reminded the digimon of their crash landing on the floating blizzard island after and encounter with Devimon had gone bad. It had not taken Matt very long to become ill after being exposed to the elements.
They all followed Tai into a nice little clearing. An opening to a cave invited them into shelter for the night.
"Oh, a cave!" Squealed Palmon in delight.
Mimi looked over at her excited digimon as if Palmon had just sprouted another head. "A cave? What's so great about a big dirty old cave?"
Palmon grinned. "If it rains, we won't get wet." She said simply.
"Oh goody."
Gabumon sat Matt down and arranged some twigs carefully, and then blue-blastered it into a roaring fire.
"Hey, way to go Gabumon." Tai said, rubbing his hands over it happily. "Okay, now all we have to do is find some food, bed down and hit the sack." He clapped his hands. "Okay. TK and Patamon, you're in charge of climbing the tree for bananas. Izzy and Tentomon, get the water. Joe and Gomamon, go explore that cave, make sure there are no evil digimon hiding in it." He paused for a breath. "Sora and Biyomon, find some leaves to make some kind of beds. Mimi and Palmon go get more firewood. Matt and Gabumon, go and catch us some fish, since you're all wet anyway…"
Matt sneezed. "And what are you going to be doing, Tai."
Tai sat down with a grin plastered across his face. "I am supervising."
The rest of the digidestined exchanged looks. Their wild haired leader had sometimes annoyed them with his little power trips, but he had never just told them what to do and not helped them do it.
"Um Tai." Came a hesitant voice from behind him. "Am I supervising too?"
Tai jerked around. "Oh, Agumon. I almost forgot about you." He hemmed and hawed for a few moments.
"I can't get firewood all by myself!" Mimi screeched with tears cascading down her cheeks.
Tai snapped his fingers. "That's it. Agumon, you can help Mimi and Palmon gather firewood." He paused to look over his team, who were just standing there gaping at him. "Well on with it, guys. The day isn't exactly getting any longer you know."
Everyone (besides Tai) just shrugged their shoulders and got to work, hoping their goggle-wearing leader was just playing a little joke on them and return to his usual self soon.
* * *
It took a while, but soon everything had gotten done, and Tai figured it was time for another pep talk for the troops.
"You guys are super." He crowed. "But may I make a few itty bitty suggestions for improvement."
Everyone frowned as their leader droned on, ignoring their lack of response.
"TK, the bananas were bruised, what did you do? Drop them?" TK's eyes filled with silent tears as Matt's filled with rage. Before Matt could butt in though, Tai rambled on. "Izzy, the water was gritty. Why'd you have to swirl the silt up? How hard is it to collect clean water? Joe, you missed a couple of bats in the cave. They nearly scared Sora's helmet off. Sora, why'd you collect branches from the prickliest trees in the forest? Mimi, the firewood has too much moss on it. Matt, you know the blue striped fish taste better than the silver ones. Next time, throw the silver ones back and wait for the yummy ones."
The vein in Matt's forehead was throbbing in tempo with his heartbeat. "Next time you catch the fish!" He yelled, causing Tai to back up a step and trip over Agumon, landing on his rump. "What is your problem, Tai? You are acting like some kind of freaking dictator!"
"Hey, who're you calling a freak!" Tai jumped up to meet the challenge.
Matt rolled his eyes. "Tai, you are not acting like yourself. What's the matter with you?" He pointed to TK and Mimi. "You're making people cry."
Sora watched with a worried look. Sure Tai was acting like a creep, but the way they were going at it, it looked like Matt and Tai were getting ready to slug it out. It would probably be better to break up the fight before it actually got physically violent.
"Would you guys knock it off?" She bellowed. "It's time we started getting settled for bed."
"Yeah Matt." Tai agreed. "I don't know why you're always starting all these fights anyway."
Matt slapped himself on the forehead. "Oh yeah, I forgot. I start all the fights." He turned on his heel and started off into the forest, Gabumon following faithfully behind.
"You get last watch!" Tai yelled after him.
"Whatever."
* * *
Tai was lying down next to Agumon inside the cave listening very carefully. The crests. He needed the crests. He did not know exactly why he needed the crests; he just knew he needed the crests. All seven of them. The Digivices too. It was important that he have all of them.
The sounds of snoring and even breathing greeted his ears like a symphony. Izzy was even talking in his sleep. It sounded like he was dreaming of playing chess, and losing quite badly.
Tai smiled maliciously and slowly, quietly sat up. Everyone, including their digimon, had stuffed themselves to capacity with food, therefore they would sleep more soundly. Tai smirked, looking at TK surrounded by Patamon and Gabumon. Matt had sent his digimon inside the cave to keep TK warm. Typical Matt. Outside on watch, all by himself. Tai kneeled beside Mimi and eased her crest from her neck. Man, she slept like a log! Her digivice was laying next to her. Tai grabbed it too and stuffed them into his shorts pocket.
Everyone else had taken their crests off for the night, and their digivices were within easy reach. No one woke up.
Tai poked his head outside the cave. Matt was sitting with his back to the cave, watching the clearing comfortably.
Tai's eyes narrowed as he surveyed the clearing. Now how was he supposed to get Matt's crest and digivice? That didn't matter. What was important was that he get it. His eyebrows turned upwards and if he was not trying to be quiet, he would have laughed diabolically. His eyes fell upon a large rock. Carefully. Silently, he picked it up. Matt's ears were sensitive, wouldn't want to startle him.
Tai watched as Matt's head started to turn. There wasn't time to run over to him and hit him, so he aimed the rock and pitched it like a softball, hoping it would hit it's mark.
Before Matt had turned, the rock slammed into the back of his head with deadly accuracy, sending the young blond over in a heap, unconscious. Tai's face twisted into a grimace. "Ooo. That's gotta hurt." He said under his breath, almost laughing out loud. He approached Matt now, not caring about the noise too much, and retrieved the last crest and digivice. He weighed them in his hand as he regarded his friend. "Gee, that doesn't look very comfortable. Maybe I should straighten him out a bit." Tai rolled Matt over into a comfortable looking position, noticing his jeans and green shirt were still feeling a bit damp from his earlier swim in the river. Tai shrugged. Oh well. He rolled Matt closer to the low burning crackling fire and again, repositioned his limbs to look like he was just sleeping comfortably. "There. That's better. Nighty night Matt." Now that his job was done, Tai yawned and stretched. All he had to do was stash his goodies in a safe place, and then he could join his friends in dreamland. And he knew the perfect hiding spot. He rubbed his hands together with a sly smile.
* * *
The sounds of birds singing woke Sora from her fitful dreamless slumber. She sat up and gazed around their nice warm homey little cave, smiling cheerily. Everyone was starting to wake up. She reached for her crest and digivice. She grabbed a fistful of dirt. Her eyes flew to the spot her things were supposed to be.
"My crest!" Mimi screeched, jumping up. "It's gone!"
Joe readjusted his glasses and scanned the cave. "Mine too. So's my digivice!" He got up and nudged Gomamon gently with his toe. "I thought you were supposed to be my protector."
Gomamon looked hurt. "You're safe, aren't you?"
Tai got up, a surprised look on his face. "Well technically Joe, Gomamon wasn't exactly on guard duty."
"Matt!" TK yelled, tearing out of the cave, followed closely by Gabumon and Patamon.
The rest of the digidestined and digimon followed the three out and scanned the area.
"Matt, what happened?" TK cried, shaking his brother, who appeared to be comfortably sleeping.
Matt groaned and rolled over, his eyes blinking open. His hand went to the back of his head as he shakily sat up.
"He fell asleep!" Mimi shouted, throwing up her arms in disgust. She marched up to him. "And do you know what happened while you were sleeping, Matt?"
Matt gazed up at her with bloodshot eyes, still blinking, trying to clear the dizziness.
"Somebody stole our crests and digivices."
Matt paled. "That's impossible." He reached for his own and let out another groan. His were gone too.
"Matt, I can't believe you fell asleep." Izzy muttered.
Tai nodded. "Well, there's a first time for everything."
Matt's eyes narrowed. "I didn't fall asleep." He looked around confusedly. What was he doing so close to the fire? He couldn't remember moving at all. "I was sitting right over there by that tree." He got up and staggered to the spot. His crest and digivice were not there either. His head was pounding painfully. "I heard a noise coming from the mouth of the cave and then BLAM. Something must have hit me from behind." He sat down again and took a deep breath. There was no way someone or something could have snuck past him, and the shape of the clearing made it impossible for anyone to really sneak up from behind, unless the person had come from out of the cave. That idea was not sitting too well with him.
To be continued…