Sorry it took so long to put up the next part! I just had ( and still do) so much to do! Anyway, this part reveals the 'new actor' in Yumemon's and Piedmon's plans, and you've probably guessed they're not going to play nice with the Digidestined. Anyway, enough with the delays! On with the fic!
Disclaimer: Don't own Digimon. Don't need to say more.
Notes: 'thoughts' "talking"
Familiar
by Hitora
Chapter Ten: The Assassin
The room was dark all around her, except for a slip of dim light that shone down onto her and her throne. Her eyes were filled with anticipation, unknown still, was the reason behind them. Her fingers tapped routinely upon the armrest, ever thinking of the havok she can do. Finally, her hand halted and room was once again silent. A mischevious grin formed on her face, and a soft chuckle esaped her lips. "It's time.. "
Far into the Digital World, there stood a tall, dark mountain.This mountain stood high above in an unknown area of the Digital World. It was bleek and gray, with no signs of life upon the barren ground. The wind whirled in frightening howls over its dark sands, echoeing through the nothingness of the land. A lone grey cylinder-shaped building stood amoung it, tall and silent. Dark clouds hung above the structure, swirling around over its rounded top in thick, black circles that constantly rumbled with thunder and flashed with lightning. An opening was in the roof where a large telescope that looked out beyond into the digital world stood. Sitting contently under it was an observing Piedmon, with a wine glass standing between his fingers, swirling with a purple-red wine. After a simple little sip, a beep came from behind him.
"Piedmon!" The moment was soon broken by a sudden call. A screen appeared hovering in the room with the polygon-looking face of the ominous Yumemon.
"Ah, mistress." Piedmon said, greeting the image. He rose from his chair to stand under the floating screen. "It's such a lovely day in the Digital World don't you think? You can practically feel the excitement in the air." he said with a smooth, anxious voice.
"Quit the small talk Piedmon, is everything set?" she asked impatiently.
"Hm, let us see hm?" Piedmon turned to face the shadows of the room behind him. A figure appeared silently from the darkness, cloaked in the shadows, and waiting for the words of their masters. "Is everything prepared?" Piedmon asked of the mysterious figure.
"Yes."
"Hm, that's odd." Gennai commented as he looked over the yellow/ white labtop that he was showing to them before.
"What is it Gennai?" Matt asked.
"There appears to be something different on this map." Gennai explained. "Here, take a look for yourselves." Gennai took the sides of the screen and turned the labtop around to face them. On the screen there were two blinking lights on the map of the Digital World. These blinking lights stood nearly side by side eachother, and they also made a slight beeping noise every time they blinked. One was a light blue color and the other was an orange color.
"What are they?" Patamon asked, looking at the lights continuously blinking on the screen.
"I'm not sure exactly, this is a new feature to me." Gennai admitted.
"Hmm.." Matt looked closely at the light, examining it throughly through his mind, as if the he had seen the light from somewhere before.
"Hey, that light looks sort of like the one I saw coming from you Matt," Tai said to him as Kari was wrapping up his shoulder.
"What?" Matt asked turning back to him. "What are you talking about Tai?" wondering what his friend meant.
"That light, I saw it glowing around you when I was being held by Yumemon and I told you to attack, but you refused to." Tai explained.
"That's weird, I didn't see myself glowing no light blue light." Matt said back mockingly. "But, that orange light..." he said, looking back at the orange blinker that stood beside the blue one. "I saw that light with the exact same color coming from you Tai." Matt admitted.
"Really?" Tai replied back.
"Yeah, I saw it when you were standing up to Yumemon, right before Agumon digivolved into that dino, Greymon." Matt explained.
"Heh, well, I definately didn't see myself glow that color of light. Ow, hey!" Tai said towards Kari, who was just finishing bandaging his shoulder. "That hurts.."
"Oh, stop being such a baby." Kari said back.
"Ugh, anyway. What do you think that has anything to do with those lights?" Tai asked, hissing from between his teeth.
"Hmm... I know!" Gennai suddenly declared. Everyone nearly jumped at his announcement, and turned to him, waiting to shower his all knowing wisdom.
"You do? What is it Gennai?" Matt asked shocked and anxious to hear the old man's answer.
"I'm not exactly sure..." Everyone sweatdrops.
"Then, why did you say you knew when you didn't?!" Tai yelled back annoyed.
"I sort of an idea of what it is. In theory, I believe it to be you and Matt's crests."
Everyone straightened up, bursting into shock at the unexpected words.
"O-Our crests?" Matt said, still stunned.
"Yes. I believe that the orange light is the light from the crest of Courage and the blue one is the crest of Friendship." Gennai explained. Everyone remained motionless, still processing those words.
Tai (obviously) was the first to break free of the shock into a fit of joy. "ALL RIGHT!! We've found two crests!" he cried out shooting up onto his feet, shaking everyone out of their frozen states. "This is great! We already got two of the crests we need to revive our powers right?" Tai asked, turning to Gennai.
"I believe so," Gennai agreed. "But I'm not exactly sure that those are your crests Tai." Gennai reminded.
"Well, we have to go and see for ourselves right? So! What's everyone sitting around here for?! Let's go!" Tai called out to the other Digidestined.
"Are you sure Tai? You were just in a battle," Kari reminded.
"And don't forget that little bleeding shoulder you have too, Tai." Matt reminded.
"Matt's right. You should at least get a little rest." Kari reminded.
"Yeah Tai, you were hurt pretty bad," Agumon said from beside him. "Besides, I'm a little hungry."
"I am too," Gabumon declared, putting one of his claws to his stomach.
Tai sighed. "Geez, gang up on me.. All right, we'll rest for awhile and you can go eat." Tai surrendered.
"You sure? You're not going to run off and leave me behind again are you?" Agumon asked suspiciously.
"Heh, of course not! I'll never do that again." Tai said, regretting his previous action.
"Great! Let's get to the kitchen Gabumon! I'm starving!" Agumon quickly ran to the kitchen as fast as his stubby legs can allow, and he was closely followed by the dog-looking digimon.
Kari chuckled. "They remind me of hungry little kids." she remarked. "I think I'll go see if I can help them." Kari said, rising up to follow them.
"Yeah, I'll come along too." Matt said, rising to his feet.
"Really Matt?" Kari asked, unable to believe her ears, sounding too good to be true.
"Yeah, I think I'll cook something for those two as a thanks for saving us." Matt said.
Kari's happiness faded. 'Aw, I thought he just wanted to be with me..' she thought disappointed.
"Something wrong Kari?" Matt asked, noticing that she wasn't moving towards the kitchen.
"Ah, nope! Let's go cook something for those digimon!" she said, hiding behind her smile.'Well, at least I'll be near him.'
After the digimon ate, they all gathered again into Gennai's living room. "You ready now?" Tai asked impatiently.
"Yep! Let's go!" Agumon said, happy with a full stomach.
"Hm, it looks like a long way from here, it might take us awhile." Takeru stated while looking at the computer screen.
"Well then we better get started," Tai reminded. "It might take us awhile, but I'm going to get that crest!" he said determined.
"Actually, I think I can help you get there a lot faster." Gennai declared. They all turned to him stepping back into the room with a large brown side bag in his hands.
"Hm? What's with the brown bag Gennai?" Kari asked curiously.
But, Tai had quickly interrupted Gennai's response and rushed before him. "How can you get us there faster?!" he asked anxiously.
"Well, actually Kari and Takeru can," Gennai corrected. "You see, there are ports littered all over the Digiworld. They're actually TVs. You can access them by the labtop, let me show you." Gennai suggested. He came to stand before the yellow and white labtop standing on the low set table. He came to a map of the digital world and moved the mouse over near the blue and orange blinking lights on the screen. "Ah, there seem to one port quite nearby." He clicked on one of the white squares and a digital port window appeared in the screen. "Okay, now what you have to do is have either Takeru or Kari put their digivices before the screen and yell 'Digiport Open!' and you'll be transferred to that area. You can also return back to the computer you came through by going through TVs, and only Takeru's and Kari's digivices can open these ports. It'd be best to remember that." Gennai advised them.
"That's great. Um, but what about that bag you got there Gennai?" Kari asked again.
"Oh this, well, call this an emergency kit. In case you get stranded out there, I've provided you some supplies." Gennai said, handing the bag to her. She decided to take a look at the supplies, so, she opened up the buckle and opened up the sack. Inside was some food and a major first aid kit.
"Uh, thanks Gennai." Kari said surprised. "But are you really sure that it's necessary?" she asked.
"You can never be too sure out there." Takeru replied.
"Hm? How do you know if you've never been out there before?" Tai asked suspiciously.
"It just makes sense. We've encountered many unfriendly beings in this world so far, we do not know what else could be out there." Takeru replied.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Tai agreed. "Okay! We all set now!? Let's get going!" Tai cried out impatiently. "Come on Kari! Open that Digi-port!"
"All right, let's see." Kari reached over and grasped her digivice. She held it before the screen, as Gennai had described to do. "Okay, DIGI-PORT OPEN!" Immediately, a white flash erupted from the screen and drew them all into the the computer.
"Whoa!" Within moments, they all had landed out of a TV screen into a wide, open forest.
"Where are we?" Kari asked, looking around. The trees were tall and wide, but the forest was very spacious, and the streams of sunlight easily broke through the green canopy. They all came to their feet, and looked in every direction to try to find some clue to where they are. "Do you think this is the area that Gennai pointed to?" Kari asked.
A strange light and beep suddenly came from their digivices almost right after Kari's question. "Huh?" Tai lifted his digivice off his belt and looked into the little screen upon it. A small area of a map and a four glowing lights blinked on the screen. "Hey, I think this is where we are." Tai said back to everyone.
"This is the area that Gennai pointed to on that laptop." Takeru reminded.
"That means we're close to the crests." Matt said.
"Right." Takeru then pressed one of the buttons upon his digivice and another screen appeared. The crest's symbols were upon it. "The area where your crests are in this direction." Takeru said, pointing towards the east.
"Man, you're pretty good at this kind of thing aren't you?" Kari replied impressed.
"Yeah, well, let's go get those crests then!" Tai said anxiously.
The forests were covered in an eerie stillness. Nothing but the slight crumble of some fallen branches or the invisible wind rustling through the trees could be heard. Not even birds chirped their cheery songs in this forest. Needless to say, the Digidestined were a little alert as they made their way through it. Tai, didn't really show it, locked totally to the little screen on his digivice guideing him to his goal. Kari looked around constantly, as if she was searching for something.
"Is something wrong Kari?" Patamon asked concerned.
"There's no creatures in this forests. Nothing.. Not even more of those digimon Gennai mentioned." Kari noticed.
"Yeah, that is weird. I wonder why that is," Patamon agreed.
"Why does that matter? You scared?" Gatomon teased.
"Hmph! Yeah right! Who'd be scared of a dum old forest!?" Patamon replied back strongly.
"Hey, you two should concentrate on finding those crests!"Tai yelled back to them.
"Hmph," they both turned away from eachother and continued on silently. Unknown to them, they were actually not alone in those forests. Silently, hidden with stealth a figure was waiting.
"The Digidestined are approaching the crests." one voice warned.
"Very well. Let us begin then,"
"Huh?" Matt stopped in his tracks. A sudden chill gripped him, and brought him to a startled halt.
"What is it Matt?" Gabumon asked.
"Huh? Uh, it-it's nothing." Matt replied, and continued to follow the others. Gabumon understood how Matt was, he wasn't going to force him to say anything if he didn't want to say anything to him. So, he ignored it and continued on beside him.
'What was that feeling?' Matt wondered.
"The crests should only be about a few minutes away." Takeru declared.
"Hey! We're almost there!" Tai yelled back to everyone. He then turned back to his digivice, excited to see the close approaching crests. But when he looked back at his screen, he saw that the crests had moved a little distance more from them. "Huh?" The symbols representing the crests then moved a little more further away. "What the?" The crests remained still on the screen for a moment, but then they began to travel quickly across the map and further away. "HEY! The crests are- they're getting away!" Tai called back to the group. They all looked down on their own digivices and realized it too.
"Come on Agumon!" Tai said to his digimon. "Let's go get them!"
"Right!" With that, they both darted off after the escaping crests.
"Hey! Wait!" Kari called and chased after them, closely followed by Patamon, Takeru, Gatomon, Matt, and Gabumon.
The symbols began to appear again on the screen and they were closely gaining on them, but suddenly one crest separated from the other and traveled away in a different direction. Tai braked in the area they had separated.
"What is it Tai?" Agumon asked.
"They've split up!"
"What's going on Tai?" Kari asked.
"The crests are getting away! The crest of courage and friendship have gone in separate directions. We don't have a lot of time, we have to split up and go after them. Kari, you're coming with me after the Crest of Courage and Takeru you're with Matt after the Crest of Friendship. We'll meet back at the TV later okay?" Tai explained.
Everyone nodded, and ran in their own ways towards their designated crests.
Further and further into the forests they ran. Matt and Takeru with their digimon partners, trying their best to always keep the crest in range of their digivices. The trees beside them blurred away and the ground beneath them began to feel more and more nonexistent. The longer they ran, the more lost they felt. They blocked that out of their minds though, trying just to concentrate on the crest before them. 'We're almost there.' Matt thought to himself, watching the crest come closer and closer in range. But then, it stopped. Matt skidded into a stop and looked down shocked on the screen.
Takeru nearly ran into him startled. "What is it Matt?" Takeru asked.
"The crest.. it stopped moving.." Matt said.
"Is that a problem?" Takeru asked back wondering.
"I have a strange feeling about this Matt," Gabumon said nervously.
"Yeah, me too." Matt replied.
"What the matter with you two?" Gatomon said impatiently. "The crest is not that far away! Why aren't you going to get it?!"
"The crest doesn't move on its own, someone must of been carrying it off. Unless they dropped it, I say they're waiting for us to get it." Matt explained.
"That makes a lot of sense. But, for us to draw whatever it is out, do you think we should try to retrieve the crest?" Takeru suggested.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Okay, stay alert." Matt advised to everyone. Everyone nodded in agreement.
Slowly, and carefully, they walked closer and closer towards the crest. They saw the forests begins to thin out and the trees grew less and less in numbers. The signal became stronger and stronger with every step they took. The beeping louder and louder. The sunlight became brighter over them and they came to see a large clearing the break in the forest before them.
"According to the digivice, the crest should be right in that clearing." Takeru said.
"All right," Matt continued on into the open clearing. As he came more and more into the clearing, he began to see a sparkle in the center. "I see it." Matt called back to the others. He approached closer and stood right over the bright object. "This must be it." He knelt down and wiped away the dirt that covered it. It was a small, blue trapezoid-shaped crest that stood within a golden pendant-like object upon a chain. "Yes!" Matt cried out victoriously. He stood up and revealed his crest to Takeru and Gatomon behind him.
"Whew," Gabumon said with relief. "I'm glad you found your crest Matt. Congratulations!" Gabumon said to him.
"Thanks Gabumon. Now let's get back to Tai and Kari." Matt suggested.
"Yeah, this forest is starting to creep me out." Gatomon said relieved.
With crest in hand and Gabumon running beside him, Matt ran back towards the waiting Takeru and Gatomon. Only to see them suddenly swooped away from the ground by a gust of wind. Matt gasped, as he watched them get whipped off the ground into the forests.
"Takeru!" Matt called after him, running towards the forests after them. Suddenly, another gust of wind had shot out and into his hand, throwing the crest from him. He watched as it soared across the clearing, off a tree, and back onto the ground. "Urgh," He looked around back and forth the clearing trying to find the source. "We're not alone here Gabumon.." Matt said to him.
"I know Matt, I'm ready.." Gabumon assured.
"SHOW YOURSELF!" Matt called out. "WHO'S OUT THERE?!"
The forests were silent. No response came back to him. He stood strong, scanning his eyes over the trees, bushes, everything, around him, Gabumon stood close by, alert as ever and prepared to protect his partner from whatever danger was to appear. A swoosh sliced through the silence and caught his senses. Matt whirled around to face his unknown enemy.
'What...?' He stood stunned, because before him stood a girl. She stood high above on a branch in the tree that stood over him, wearing a long black trenchcoat and slim turtle neck suit underneath. Upon her back, a binded katana sword stood and ready for its master's hand. She looked about his age, she was tall and slim, with short crimson-brown hair with eyes of auburn red looking down upon him. 'Who is this girl? H-Howcome I feel like I should know who she is?'
Gabumon quickly came to stand between Matt and the mysterious girl. "Who are you?! Identify yourself!" Gabumon demanded.
She reached over and grasped the handle of her sword and brought it forth, holding it ready. "I am an assasssin." she replied in a cold, hard voice, that was still touched by a slight softness. "I was sent by my master, Piedmon himself. I am the one who is to take the Digidestineds' lives." she called out, lifting her sword before her, flashing a light of silver from the blade. "I am called Shinokaze!" she declared. "The Wind of Death!"
Disclaimer: Don't own Digimon. Don't need to say more.
Notes: 'thoughts' "talking"
Familiar
by Hitora
Chapter Ten: The Assassin
The room was dark all around her, except for a slip of dim light that shone down onto her and her throne. Her eyes were filled with anticipation, unknown still, was the reason behind them. Her fingers tapped routinely upon the armrest, ever thinking of the havok she can do. Finally, her hand halted and room was once again silent. A mischevious grin formed on her face, and a soft chuckle esaped her lips. "It's time.. "
Far into the Digital World, there stood a tall, dark mountain.This mountain stood high above in an unknown area of the Digital World. It was bleek and gray, with no signs of life upon the barren ground. The wind whirled in frightening howls over its dark sands, echoeing through the nothingness of the land. A lone grey cylinder-shaped building stood amoung it, tall and silent. Dark clouds hung above the structure, swirling around over its rounded top in thick, black circles that constantly rumbled with thunder and flashed with lightning. An opening was in the roof where a large telescope that looked out beyond into the digital world stood. Sitting contently under it was an observing Piedmon, with a wine glass standing between his fingers, swirling with a purple-red wine. After a simple little sip, a beep came from behind him.
"Piedmon!" The moment was soon broken by a sudden call. A screen appeared hovering in the room with the polygon-looking face of the ominous Yumemon.
"Ah, mistress." Piedmon said, greeting the image. He rose from his chair to stand under the floating screen. "It's such a lovely day in the Digital World don't you think? You can practically feel the excitement in the air." he said with a smooth, anxious voice.
"Quit the small talk Piedmon, is everything set?" she asked impatiently.
"Hm, let us see hm?" Piedmon turned to face the shadows of the room behind him. A figure appeared silently from the darkness, cloaked in the shadows, and waiting for the words of their masters. "Is everything prepared?" Piedmon asked of the mysterious figure.
"Yes."
"Hm, that's odd." Gennai commented as he looked over the yellow/ white labtop that he was showing to them before.
"What is it Gennai?" Matt asked.
"There appears to be something different on this map." Gennai explained. "Here, take a look for yourselves." Gennai took the sides of the screen and turned the labtop around to face them. On the screen there were two blinking lights on the map of the Digital World. These blinking lights stood nearly side by side eachother, and they also made a slight beeping noise every time they blinked. One was a light blue color and the other was an orange color.
"What are they?" Patamon asked, looking at the lights continuously blinking on the screen.
"I'm not sure exactly, this is a new feature to me." Gennai admitted.
"Hmm.." Matt looked closely at the light, examining it throughly through his mind, as if the he had seen the light from somewhere before.
"Hey, that light looks sort of like the one I saw coming from you Matt," Tai said to him as Kari was wrapping up his shoulder.
"What?" Matt asked turning back to him. "What are you talking about Tai?" wondering what his friend meant.
"That light, I saw it glowing around you when I was being held by Yumemon and I told you to attack, but you refused to." Tai explained.
"That's weird, I didn't see myself glowing no light blue light." Matt said back mockingly. "But, that orange light..." he said, looking back at the orange blinker that stood beside the blue one. "I saw that light with the exact same color coming from you Tai." Matt admitted.
"Really?" Tai replied back.
"Yeah, I saw it when you were standing up to Yumemon, right before Agumon digivolved into that dino, Greymon." Matt explained.
"Heh, well, I definately didn't see myself glow that color of light. Ow, hey!" Tai said towards Kari, who was just finishing bandaging his shoulder. "That hurts.."
"Oh, stop being such a baby." Kari said back.
"Ugh, anyway. What do you think that has anything to do with those lights?" Tai asked, hissing from between his teeth.
"Hmm... I know!" Gennai suddenly declared. Everyone nearly jumped at his announcement, and turned to him, waiting to shower his all knowing wisdom.
"You do? What is it Gennai?" Matt asked shocked and anxious to hear the old man's answer.
"I'm not exactly sure..." Everyone sweatdrops.
"Then, why did you say you knew when you didn't?!" Tai yelled back annoyed.
"I sort of an idea of what it is. In theory, I believe it to be you and Matt's crests."
Everyone straightened up, bursting into shock at the unexpected words.
"O-Our crests?" Matt said, still stunned.
"Yes. I believe that the orange light is the light from the crest of Courage and the blue one is the crest of Friendship." Gennai explained. Everyone remained motionless, still processing those words.
Tai (obviously) was the first to break free of the shock into a fit of joy. "ALL RIGHT!! We've found two crests!" he cried out shooting up onto his feet, shaking everyone out of their frozen states. "This is great! We already got two of the crests we need to revive our powers right?" Tai asked, turning to Gennai.
"I believe so," Gennai agreed. "But I'm not exactly sure that those are your crests Tai." Gennai reminded.
"Well, we have to go and see for ourselves right? So! What's everyone sitting around here for?! Let's go!" Tai called out to the other Digidestined.
"Are you sure Tai? You were just in a battle," Kari reminded.
"And don't forget that little bleeding shoulder you have too, Tai." Matt reminded.
"Matt's right. You should at least get a little rest." Kari reminded.
"Yeah Tai, you were hurt pretty bad," Agumon said from beside him. "Besides, I'm a little hungry."
"I am too," Gabumon declared, putting one of his claws to his stomach.
Tai sighed. "Geez, gang up on me.. All right, we'll rest for awhile and you can go eat." Tai surrendered.
"You sure? You're not going to run off and leave me behind again are you?" Agumon asked suspiciously.
"Heh, of course not! I'll never do that again." Tai said, regretting his previous action.
"Great! Let's get to the kitchen Gabumon! I'm starving!" Agumon quickly ran to the kitchen as fast as his stubby legs can allow, and he was closely followed by the dog-looking digimon.
Kari chuckled. "They remind me of hungry little kids." she remarked. "I think I'll go see if I can help them." Kari said, rising up to follow them.
"Yeah, I'll come along too." Matt said, rising to his feet.
"Really Matt?" Kari asked, unable to believe her ears, sounding too good to be true.
"Yeah, I think I'll cook something for those two as a thanks for saving us." Matt said.
Kari's happiness faded. 'Aw, I thought he just wanted to be with me..' she thought disappointed.
"Something wrong Kari?" Matt asked, noticing that she wasn't moving towards the kitchen.
"Ah, nope! Let's go cook something for those digimon!" she said, hiding behind her smile.'Well, at least I'll be near him.'
After the digimon ate, they all gathered again into Gennai's living room. "You ready now?" Tai asked impatiently.
"Yep! Let's go!" Agumon said, happy with a full stomach.
"Hm, it looks like a long way from here, it might take us awhile." Takeru stated while looking at the computer screen.
"Well then we better get started," Tai reminded. "It might take us awhile, but I'm going to get that crest!" he said determined.
"Actually, I think I can help you get there a lot faster." Gennai declared. They all turned to him stepping back into the room with a large brown side bag in his hands.
"Hm? What's with the brown bag Gennai?" Kari asked curiously.
But, Tai had quickly interrupted Gennai's response and rushed before him. "How can you get us there faster?!" he asked anxiously.
"Well, actually Kari and Takeru can," Gennai corrected. "You see, there are ports littered all over the Digiworld. They're actually TVs. You can access them by the labtop, let me show you." Gennai suggested. He came to stand before the yellow and white labtop standing on the low set table. He came to a map of the digital world and moved the mouse over near the blue and orange blinking lights on the screen. "Ah, there seem to one port quite nearby." He clicked on one of the white squares and a digital port window appeared in the screen. "Okay, now what you have to do is have either Takeru or Kari put their digivices before the screen and yell 'Digiport Open!' and you'll be transferred to that area. You can also return back to the computer you came through by going through TVs, and only Takeru's and Kari's digivices can open these ports. It'd be best to remember that." Gennai advised them.
"That's great. Um, but what about that bag you got there Gennai?" Kari asked again.
"Oh this, well, call this an emergency kit. In case you get stranded out there, I've provided you some supplies." Gennai said, handing the bag to her. She decided to take a look at the supplies, so, she opened up the buckle and opened up the sack. Inside was some food and a major first aid kit.
"Uh, thanks Gennai." Kari said surprised. "But are you really sure that it's necessary?" she asked.
"You can never be too sure out there." Takeru replied.
"Hm? How do you know if you've never been out there before?" Tai asked suspiciously.
"It just makes sense. We've encountered many unfriendly beings in this world so far, we do not know what else could be out there." Takeru replied.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Tai agreed. "Okay! We all set now!? Let's get going!" Tai cried out impatiently. "Come on Kari! Open that Digi-port!"
"All right, let's see." Kari reached over and grasped her digivice. She held it before the screen, as Gennai had described to do. "Okay, DIGI-PORT OPEN!" Immediately, a white flash erupted from the screen and drew them all into the the computer.
"Whoa!" Within moments, they all had landed out of a TV screen into a wide, open forest.
"Where are we?" Kari asked, looking around. The trees were tall and wide, but the forest was very spacious, and the streams of sunlight easily broke through the green canopy. They all came to their feet, and looked in every direction to try to find some clue to where they are. "Do you think this is the area that Gennai pointed to?" Kari asked.
A strange light and beep suddenly came from their digivices almost right after Kari's question. "Huh?" Tai lifted his digivice off his belt and looked into the little screen upon it. A small area of a map and a four glowing lights blinked on the screen. "Hey, I think this is where we are." Tai said back to everyone.
"This is the area that Gennai pointed to on that laptop." Takeru reminded.
"That means we're close to the crests." Matt said.
"Right." Takeru then pressed one of the buttons upon his digivice and another screen appeared. The crest's symbols were upon it. "The area where your crests are in this direction." Takeru said, pointing towards the east.
"Man, you're pretty good at this kind of thing aren't you?" Kari replied impressed.
"Yeah, well, let's go get those crests then!" Tai said anxiously.
The forests were covered in an eerie stillness. Nothing but the slight crumble of some fallen branches or the invisible wind rustling through the trees could be heard. Not even birds chirped their cheery songs in this forest. Needless to say, the Digidestined were a little alert as they made their way through it. Tai, didn't really show it, locked totally to the little screen on his digivice guideing him to his goal. Kari looked around constantly, as if she was searching for something.
"Is something wrong Kari?" Patamon asked concerned.
"There's no creatures in this forests. Nothing.. Not even more of those digimon Gennai mentioned." Kari noticed.
"Yeah, that is weird. I wonder why that is," Patamon agreed.
"Why does that matter? You scared?" Gatomon teased.
"Hmph! Yeah right! Who'd be scared of a dum old forest!?" Patamon replied back strongly.
"Hey, you two should concentrate on finding those crests!"Tai yelled back to them.
"Hmph," they both turned away from eachother and continued on silently. Unknown to them, they were actually not alone in those forests. Silently, hidden with stealth a figure was waiting.
"The Digidestined are approaching the crests." one voice warned.
"Very well. Let us begin then,"
"Huh?" Matt stopped in his tracks. A sudden chill gripped him, and brought him to a startled halt.
"What is it Matt?" Gabumon asked.
"Huh? Uh, it-it's nothing." Matt replied, and continued to follow the others. Gabumon understood how Matt was, he wasn't going to force him to say anything if he didn't want to say anything to him. So, he ignored it and continued on beside him.
'What was that feeling?' Matt wondered.
"The crests should only be about a few minutes away." Takeru declared.
"Hey! We're almost there!" Tai yelled back to everyone. He then turned back to his digivice, excited to see the close approaching crests. But when he looked back at his screen, he saw that the crests had moved a little distance more from them. "Huh?" The symbols representing the crests then moved a little more further away. "What the?" The crests remained still on the screen for a moment, but then they began to travel quickly across the map and further away. "HEY! The crests are- they're getting away!" Tai called back to the group. They all looked down on their own digivices and realized it too.
"Come on Agumon!" Tai said to his digimon. "Let's go get them!"
"Right!" With that, they both darted off after the escaping crests.
"Hey! Wait!" Kari called and chased after them, closely followed by Patamon, Takeru, Gatomon, Matt, and Gabumon.
The symbols began to appear again on the screen and they were closely gaining on them, but suddenly one crest separated from the other and traveled away in a different direction. Tai braked in the area they had separated.
"What is it Tai?" Agumon asked.
"They've split up!"
"What's going on Tai?" Kari asked.
"The crests are getting away! The crest of courage and friendship have gone in separate directions. We don't have a lot of time, we have to split up and go after them. Kari, you're coming with me after the Crest of Courage and Takeru you're with Matt after the Crest of Friendship. We'll meet back at the TV later okay?" Tai explained.
Everyone nodded, and ran in their own ways towards their designated crests.
Further and further into the forests they ran. Matt and Takeru with their digimon partners, trying their best to always keep the crest in range of their digivices. The trees beside them blurred away and the ground beneath them began to feel more and more nonexistent. The longer they ran, the more lost they felt. They blocked that out of their minds though, trying just to concentrate on the crest before them. 'We're almost there.' Matt thought to himself, watching the crest come closer and closer in range. But then, it stopped. Matt skidded into a stop and looked down shocked on the screen.
Takeru nearly ran into him startled. "What is it Matt?" Takeru asked.
"The crest.. it stopped moving.." Matt said.
"Is that a problem?" Takeru asked back wondering.
"I have a strange feeling about this Matt," Gabumon said nervously.
"Yeah, me too." Matt replied.
"What the matter with you two?" Gatomon said impatiently. "The crest is not that far away! Why aren't you going to get it?!"
"The crest doesn't move on its own, someone must of been carrying it off. Unless they dropped it, I say they're waiting for us to get it." Matt explained.
"That makes a lot of sense. But, for us to draw whatever it is out, do you think we should try to retrieve the crest?" Takeru suggested.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Okay, stay alert." Matt advised to everyone. Everyone nodded in agreement.
Slowly, and carefully, they walked closer and closer towards the crest. They saw the forests begins to thin out and the trees grew less and less in numbers. The signal became stronger and stronger with every step they took. The beeping louder and louder. The sunlight became brighter over them and they came to see a large clearing the break in the forest before them.
"According to the digivice, the crest should be right in that clearing." Takeru said.
"All right," Matt continued on into the open clearing. As he came more and more into the clearing, he began to see a sparkle in the center. "I see it." Matt called back to the others. He approached closer and stood right over the bright object. "This must be it." He knelt down and wiped away the dirt that covered it. It was a small, blue trapezoid-shaped crest that stood within a golden pendant-like object upon a chain. "Yes!" Matt cried out victoriously. He stood up and revealed his crest to Takeru and Gatomon behind him.
"Whew," Gabumon said with relief. "I'm glad you found your crest Matt. Congratulations!" Gabumon said to him.
"Thanks Gabumon. Now let's get back to Tai and Kari." Matt suggested.
"Yeah, this forest is starting to creep me out." Gatomon said relieved.
With crest in hand and Gabumon running beside him, Matt ran back towards the waiting Takeru and Gatomon. Only to see them suddenly swooped away from the ground by a gust of wind. Matt gasped, as he watched them get whipped off the ground into the forests.
"Takeru!" Matt called after him, running towards the forests after them. Suddenly, another gust of wind had shot out and into his hand, throwing the crest from him. He watched as it soared across the clearing, off a tree, and back onto the ground. "Urgh," He looked around back and forth the clearing trying to find the source. "We're not alone here Gabumon.." Matt said to him.
"I know Matt, I'm ready.." Gabumon assured.
"SHOW YOURSELF!" Matt called out. "WHO'S OUT THERE?!"
The forests were silent. No response came back to him. He stood strong, scanning his eyes over the trees, bushes, everything, around him, Gabumon stood close by, alert as ever and prepared to protect his partner from whatever danger was to appear. A swoosh sliced through the silence and caught his senses. Matt whirled around to face his unknown enemy.
'What...?' He stood stunned, because before him stood a girl. She stood high above on a branch in the tree that stood over him, wearing a long black trenchcoat and slim turtle neck suit underneath. Upon her back, a binded katana sword stood and ready for its master's hand. She looked about his age, she was tall and slim, with short crimson-brown hair with eyes of auburn red looking down upon him. 'Who is this girl? H-Howcome I feel like I should know who she is?'
Gabumon quickly came to stand between Matt and the mysterious girl. "Who are you?! Identify yourself!" Gabumon demanded.
She reached over and grasped the handle of her sword and brought it forth, holding it ready. "I am an assasssin." she replied in a cold, hard voice, that was still touched by a slight softness. "I was sent by my master, Piedmon himself. I am the one who is to take the Digidestineds' lives." she called out, lifting her sword before her, flashing a light of silver from the blade. "I am called Shinokaze!" she declared. "The Wind of Death!"