Author's Note: Sorry I haven't been able to update. My dad banned me from the computer for "a week", but today he let me on. Sorry for the wait.

Chapter Four

The First Test

The Tamers were falling…falling…falling…

WHUMP!

Groans emanated from the Tamers as they landed on the ground. Standing a few feet away was the strange girl.

"Geez. You guys sure don't know how to land on your feet," she declared.

Riku was the first to get up. "Oh, and you know how to?" she demanded.

"Sure I do," the strange girl replied. "Well, since your rear ends are hurting like mad, I think it'll do you some good to get a bath and eat supper."

Josh and Daiki sprang up at the mention of food. "We want food! We want food!" they chanted.

The girl glared at them. "You'll have to take a bath first."

The two boys pouted. "Aw, man!" Josh muttered, kicking the ground.

—————

The girl led the Tamers to a village. Large huts of stone and clay filled the village, and Digimon moved about, doing their own chores. In the center of the village was a well. An elderly Digimon—Jijimon—saw the Tamers and walked to them.

"Oh, hello, Jessica," Jijimon greeted the girl. "You found them?"

"Sure did, Jijimon," Jessica replied. "And what did I tell you? I want to be called 'Jessie'."

Jijimon nodded. "Oh, yes, I remember. It's my old age. I'm forgetting things. Anyway, would you like to introduce yourselves, Tamers of legend?" Jijimon asked the nine kids.

The Tamers introduced themselves and their Digimon.

Jessie looked at Jijimon. "Are they the correct Tamers, Jijimon?"

Jijimon nodded "Yes. Hm-hm… You there—the girl—um, what's your name again?"

Lina pointed to herself. "Me? I'm Lina Matsuki."

Jijimon nodded again. "Oh, yes, hm-hm. Prophecy clearly states…ah, what does it state again? Oh dear. Piximon!"

A Piximon shot out from the nearest hut holding a big red book. Piximon opened it and read out loud, "When darkness falls upon the land, ten Tamers shall come to our island. The ten Digimon of the prophecy will awaken, and they will meet their Tamers. When the hour strikes and the sun has vanished at noon, their first enemy will strike. The one with goggles shall lead, for it has been a mark for the bygone Tamers and it will be a mark for the Tamers to come."

Jijimon nodded for a third time. "Yes…Lani was it? Oh, sorry, Lina. Hm-hm, forgetting names again, Jijimon!" The Mega-level Digimon laughed. "Oh, hm-hm. Lina, you're to lead. And, hm-hm, the sun vanishes at noon…what are they called again?"

"Solar eclipses?" Jessie suggested.

"Ah, yes, that's it! Hm-hm, yes…" Jijimon turned and slowly walked to his hut. "Hm-hm…when the solar eclipse comes, your first test shall arrive…"

—————

Two days later…

Riku turned on her laptop and opened realworld.exe. She typed in the password and logged on. A window popped up on the screen, and the previous Tamers were standing with anxious faces.

Riku's eyes widened. "Mom? Dad?"

Ryo pushed through the others. "Riku! Where's everyone else?"

"The dining room," Riku replied. "Two days ago, we found a village—actually, no, we were lead to a village by a girl and her Gummymon. Well, anyway, we've found our Digimon and our destiny. The elder Digimon, Jijimon, said that our first test will come when at the solar eclipse."

"The solar eclipse!" Rika cried. "Why, that's going on right now!"

Riku's eyes widened. She looked to the window and noticed it was considerably darker. Riku checked her laptop clock and saw that it was 11:45 AM.

Riley rushed in from the dining room. "Fifteen minutes to go, Riku! You better move your butt before we're all toast." She noticed the computer screen. "Oh! Hi Mom! Hi Dad!"

"Riley! Are you all right?" yelled Kenta.

"I'm perfectly fine, Dad. The food was delicious, and the bath was great, too! And our Digimon digivolved to In-Training when we were fighting a Snimon, but we weren't able to defeat it. But I hope our Digimon digivolve again to—"

Tsunomon hopped into the room and looked up at his partner. "Riley, you talk too much."

Riku turned to look at her parents. "Mom, Dad, I have to go now."

"All right," Sakura replied. "Just be careful. Mr. and Mrs. Neko will be heading for the hospital in five minutes, so tell Mikara and Josh, okay?"

"I will."

Takato managed to get in front of the computer screen. "Riku…tell the others that their parents are here waiting for them. We're right by your sides…be careful…and tell them that we wish you guys the best of luck."

Riku managed a small smile. "Okay, Mr. Matsuki."

The connection was severed. Riku logged off and turned off her laptop. She stuck it back in her bag and walked into the dining room with Riley.

"Five minutes to go, guys," Riki told everyone, glancing at his watch.

"What do you think our test will be?" Lina asked Compass.

Compass shrugged. "Who knows?"

The minutes ticked by slowly. Silence reigned in the dining room as the Tamers and their Digimon waited. The Digimon who were outside went to their huts and locked the doors. The sky grew darker, ever darker, as the sun was swallowed up.

"Ten seconds!" Riki suddenly yelled. "Nine…eight…seven…six…get ready guys…four…three…two…"

A horrible screech ripped through the air. The Tamers and their Digimon ran outside to see a little Digimon running from a Snimon. The Snimon cornered the little Digimon and raised a scythe to strike.

"It's the Snimon from earlier!" Fenamon exclaimed.

Gummymon jumped forward. "Yeah, and this time we'll beat it. Right guys?"

"Right!" the other Digimon cried.

The Tamers' D-forces glowed with brilliant light. The light distracted the Snimon, making it forget about the little Digimon.

"Let's do it! Gummymon digivolve to…Terriermon!"

"Minomon digivolve to…Wormmon!"

"Konekomon digivolve to…Nekomon!"

"Amarillamon digivolve to…Morglormon!"

"Tokomon digivolve to…Patamon!"

"Baslimon digivolve to…Vipomon!"

"Tavmon digivolve to…Sytamon!"

"Oakimon digivolve to…Petalmon!"

"Tsunomon digivolve to…Gabumon!"

"Fenamon digivolve to…Tetramon!"

Daiki jumped up and down. "Yay! Now we can beat Snimon! Show 'im who's boss, Tetramon!"

"Can do, Daiki!" Tetramon leaped at the Snimon and swiped at its face. "Paw Swipe!"

Morglormon sent a cloud of sickly green mist at Snimon. "Fungus Crusher!"

"Sticky Net!" Wormmon yelled. Strands of webbing caught the Snimon in the eye. The Snimon screeched and tried to claw at the webbing.

Sytamon's white facial markings glowed. A thin beam of light came down from the darkened sun and hit the middle triangle on Sytamon's forehead. Her eyes glowed as she blasted a ball of solar energy at Snimon: "Prism Sun!"

"Fireball!" Vipomon yelled as a ball of fire escaped his mouth.

Nekomon's eyes glowed bright red. Beams shot out of them as she said, "Eye Beam!"

The Snimon was down, but it was not deleted. It tried getting up, but it fell down again.

"Let's finish it off!" Riku told the others. "Petalmon!"

The winged plant jumped forward. Petalmon gathered solar energy in the flower atop her head, then shot it out at the Snimon. "Energy Beam!"

"Boom Bubble!" Patamon cried as a large blast of air escaped his mouth.

Terriermon spun around till he created a mini tornado. "Terrier Tornado!"

Gabumon blasted a thin stream of blue fire at the Snimon. "Blue Blaster!"

The same horrible screech tore through the air as Gabumon's attack hit the Snimon. The bug's huge wings spread out and buzzed furiously, but it was no use. The Snimon fell, causing a huge dust cloud to rise. There was a sound like something was vanishing. As the dust cloud rose and disappeared, flecks of data rose with it and flew away on the breeze.

—————

Author's Note: That was…kind of sad, wasn't it? But there'll be sadder things, I think. Well, it's not over yet, so keep reading!