Chapter 01: Adventure and Danger
"Great, it's getting late and I'm lost," Veemon grumbled to himself as he tried to find the dirt path that would lead him back home. This seemed to always happen to him. He got distracted while exploring Keystone Forest and wandered off the trail. He knew better than to venture away from the path, but he was an explorer at heart and wanted to see more of the mysterious forest that resided just outside of his home.
The sun would be setting soon, and the wild predator digimon that roamed the forest would be waking up to hunt. The last thing Veemon wanted was to be wandering about when they awoke.
"The path has to be somewhere around here," he said as he quickened his pace, rounding a wide tree and then another.
A loud howl could be heard from the distance and Veemon felt his stomach knot up in fear. The hunt was beginning much sooner than he was expecting. He needed to get out of the forest and fast. He walked through the foliage and nearly tripped over a tree root peeking out from the ground. He cursed under his breath as he righted his footing. At this rate, he was never going to find his way back before nightfall.
A tree branch broke behind him and he froze in place, straining to listen to his surroundings. He felt like there were eyes on him, and he knew that something was following him. He wasted no time and began sprinting, running around the various trees and through the thick underbrush. He could hear loud footsteps behind him, picking up the pace to keep up with him. He glanced back behind him, and to his horror, he saw a red wolf running after him.
Veemon knew two things about this creature. First, it was called Fangmon, and second, it was a vicious predator. He quickened his pace and broke out into a full run. Fangmon did the same and was closing in on him. The Fangmon stared him down with its yellow eyes as it chased after him. Its teeth snapped with a sharp click and saliva dripped from its gaping maw. It was hungry, and it was ready to feed.
"This isn't over," Veemon shouted as he came to a sudden halt and spun around. He reared back his fist and lobbed a punch at Fangmon, striking it just as it closed the gap between them. "Vee Punch!"
Fangmon was caught off guard as the fist slammed into its face. It yelped and backed away, rubbing its paw against its sore snout.
Veemon realized that this wasn't an even match, and perhaps fleeing wasn't the worst idea. He ran further into the forest, taking winding turns around the thick trees in a desperate attempt to lose the Fangmon. His chest burned as he took in sharp breaths, but the adrenaline kept him from slowing his stride.
As he ventured further into Keystone Forest, he came across an unusual sight. The trees were growing denser, and hundreds of keyboards were wrapped around the branches like vines and dangled from trees by their USB cables. The keyboards were petrified, turned to stone from centuries of being unused. He slowed down to catch his breath and give his aching legs a rest from the fear-fueled run.
What are these? He wondered as he walked further. One of the keyboards hung closer to the ground and he poked at it. Sure enough, it was made of stone. How unusual.
He had never seen these stone keyboards hanging from the trees because he had never been this deep into Keystone Forest. He knew that he was very, very lost and he wondered if he would ever find his way back to the path. He stopped suddenly when he saw in the distance, a stump with a computer monitor and a keyboard resting on top of it. He went over to examine it, curiously. The screen was lit up and a blank email was brought up on the screen. The address bar was filled out with a name he had never seen before.
His curiosity peaked, and he had almost forgotten about being chased by Fangmon. Veemon was an easily distracted little guy and soon was more interested in this computer than he was in finding shelter from the beasts that roamed the forest. He looked at the blank email and began typing on the keyboard that, thankfully, wasn't stone like all the other ones that were hanging from the trees like strange fruit.
"Hi! My name is Veemon. What's yours?" he wrote out and hit send. This was interesting, and he wanted to see just where the message was being sent to. After all, it's not every day that you find a working computer in the middle of a forest. He was already lost, so what harm could it do to send a message or two to this stranger?
He was pleasantly surprised when he received a near-instant reply.