Chapter Six: United We Fall (part 1)
Takeru, acting as any other excited little kid would, was the first one up out of the group sleeping along the riverbank. And, just as any other excited little kid, he made sure that everyone else knew it. Carrying Patamon in his arms like a teddy bear, he ran over to his brother, his little feet slapping against the sandy ground.
"Onii-chan! Onii-chan!" his voice rang out as he shook his brother awake. Yamato, dazed from just being woken up, moaned and rolled over, shielding his eyes from the bright morning sun. Takeru crinkled his face in frustration and shook his brother's shoulder again. "Come on, get up! It's morning and I want breakfast!" Yamato strained to open his eyes; his midnight sentry duty had deprived him of hours of sleep, and it was probably just an hour after sunrise anyway.
Yamato stumbled up and sauntered over to where Koushiro lay sleeping. Tentomon, who was just a few feet away, woke up and cheerfully greeted Yamato and Takeru.
"Ah, good morning!" he greeted, "you two must love mornings enough to get up at this hour, considering how tired you must be from yesterday." Yamato growled at the reminder. The first night at camp he barely slept a wink, and then he ran around looking for his brother and running from monsters, then he had to carry Mimi, and then he stayed up half the night AGAIN playing guard duty.
"This is worse than cramming for high-school entrance exams," he muttered. A harsh beeping sound, slightly muffled, rang out, disturbing the relatively quiet scene. Koushiro stirred, sat up, and popped open his laptop. He punched a few keys on its keyboard and the noise stopped. Koushiro closed his laptop and looked up at the brothers.
"Well, it would appear that my computer's alarm clock is operational." Yamato stared at him.
"You mean, that thing has an alarm clock?" Koushiro nodded.
"Granted, it wasn't a standard feature, I had to install the new parts and rewire the clock so that at a certain time, the speaker would let off a noise, regardless of the computer's condition, on or off. I'd like to run the system through the CD player as well, so that the alarm would let off a song rather than a beep. Rather annoying currently, wouldn't you say?" Yamato started to raise an eyebrow, but decided it took too much brainpower at this time of day so he didn't. Takeru tugged on his shirt.
"Yamato, I'm hungry!" he reminded him. Yamato nodded in agreement.
"But the only food we have is Mimi's, so I think we should wait until she wakes up and let her divide up the remaining food," Yamato told him. Takeru began to whimper in protest. Gabumon, who had wandered over to where they were standing, stepped forward a step.
"I'll just go wake her then!" he told them, and he scampered over to where Mimi lay.
"I wouldn't do that-" Yamato protested, but Gabumon didn't hear. He reached a yellow paw over and gently shook Mimi's shoulder. Her eyes slowly opened and looked right up at the Digimon's face. She sat straight up and let out a piercing scream. Gabumon jumped back and Mimi stood straight up.
"Don't EVER do that to me again! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" she yelled, pointing a finger at the Digimon. She then fell back to the ground. "Ugh, stood up too fast." Yamato walked over and held out a hand.
"You ok?" She looked up at him and all the memories of what she had written in the notebook flooded back to him. Yamato almost pulled his hand away, but stopped himself. "I can't let on any clues that I read the story; she'd kill me!" he told himself. Mimi grasped his hand and pulled herself up slowly.
"What a way to wake up," she muttered, dusting dirt off of her dress. Koushiro smiled.
"It would appear," he stated, walking over, "that you have gained the use of your legs again." Mimi looked at him for a moment, and suddenly remembered.
"Right right, I couldn't walk at all yesterday," she replied. "Well, at least I can stand now, but they are unbelievably stiff." She took a few quick steps to test her walking capabilities and stopped short, bending down to massage her muscles. "My calves hurt like hell, though." She stumbled over to a rock and sat down, still rubbing her legs.
Takeru rummaged through one of the smaller pockets of Mimi's backpack. "What's this?" he asked Mimi, as he held up slender, white plastic wrapper. Mimi's eyes widened, mortified, and she leaped towards him, snatching the tampon from his grasp and stuffed it in her backpack.
"It's nothing, absolutely nothing!" she stammered in embarrassment. "Don't go through my backpack ever again!" Koushiro started chuckling, and then unable to hold it in, burst out laughing. Yamato looked around, searching for the source of the joke.
"What, what? I missed something; what is so funny?" he demanded of Koushiro, who upon seeing Mimi's harsh glare told him that it was nothing. Yamato scowled in frustration and stomped over to his brother, who appeared to be on the verge of tears.
"I-I was just trying to look for food," he sniffled. Yamato ruffled his hair to comfort him. Mimi pulled out a packet of chocolate pocky and opened it. She handed Takeru a stick.
"I'm afraid that we'll have to split this for breakfast. She divided up the sticks and handed one to everyone, including the Digimon who gobbled it up in a flash. The remaining pieces she placed back in the package and stuck in her backpack. "Lunch" she muttered to herself.
"Well," Koushiro brushed himself off as he stood from breakfast, "now's as good a time to leave as any. Everyone ready?"
"I suppose," Mimi picked up her backpack and handed it to Yamato. "If you don't mind?" Grumbling a little, but only a little, he slung the backpack over his shoulders and they were off.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The first hour or so of walking proved uncomfortably uneventful. Meaningful conversation was virtually nonexistent, as no one could come up with an appropriate topic that they thought the others would find interesting. The scenery never seemed to change, adding to the dull nature of the situation.
"Why isn't Mimi talking?" Yamato wondered. "Yesterday she seemed sociable enough. Could it be, that she knows that I read her journal? Or maybe that-oh I don't know!" He glanced over at Koushiro. "I'm not too surprised he's staying silent; except when the topic strays to computers, that guy keeps his mouth shut. Is that all he ever thinks about?"
Ironically, at that moment, computers were the topic furthest from Koushiro's mind.
"Jeez my back hurts from sleeping on the beach," Koushiro complained to himself. "I've never really minded being outdoors, but the terrain! I miss my own bed." He quickly glanced over at the others, silently staring ahead as they walked along. "I wonder how they're dealing with all of this, physically and mentally. Mimi's mobility has returned, but she hasn't seemed even the least bit happy. Her attitude on the bus was more apathetic, now it's, something else. Can't quite put my finger on it."
Mimi, on the other hand, had her mind on only one thing: food.
"I am sooooo hungry!" she silently whimpered. "How can I be expected to live off of a stick of Pocky? The water around here isn't exactly what I'd call sanitary, either. Gotta stop thinking about food. I know! I'll put on my headphones. Wait, that might be considered rude. But no one's talking, and I'm too hungry to start a conversation. Ack! Food again. Oh this is not going to be pleasant." Mimi pressed on her stomach, trying to suppress the painful empty feeling she wasn't accustomed to.
"Hungry?" Yamato asked. Mimi nodded her head slightly and cringed, whimpering slightly. "Just think of your least favorite food, and ask yourself 'am I hungry enough to eat that?' and imagine yourself eating it." Mimi thought for a moment.
"Cucumbers," she decided. Then she closed her eyes and imagined herself picking up a slice and dropping it into her mouth. The slimy seeds slipped over her tongue and the sickly sweet flavor burst in her mouth, causing convulsions in her stomach. She held her nose to swallow it, but she could still taste it in her mouth.
"That helped, thanks," Mimi told Yamato, feeling a little sickly from the pretend cucumber. "Better alternative than hunger."
"Ya know," Koushiro interjected, "we should try playing a game to get to know each other better. We've been thrust into the same difficult situation, after all, and it may be beneficial later on if we feel more comfortable around each other."
"Fine with me," Mimi stated blandly. Yamato just shrugged. "What kind of game?"
"We each take turns in asking one other member of the group a question about themselves that they must answer, truthfully may I add. Other than keeping the questions relatively appropriate, there are no rules." Yamato nodded his head in approval. Koushiro turned to Mimi. "Well?" Mimi thought for a moment.
"I'll play, as long as I get to be the judge of whether the question is appropriate or not. AND," she added, abruptly, "Takeru has to wear my headphones the entire time. If I know guys, and even girls for that matter, the questions won't stay appropriate for long." She unzipped the backpack, still on Yamato's shoulders, and took out her CD player. "Here you go," she said as she knelt down and handed it to Takeru. "Now be careful with it, and turn up the volume so you can't hear us, but don't blow out your ears, okay?" Takeru nodded his head vigorously.
"Okay!"
Mimi stood back up. "Ok," she proclaimed, with a mischievous glint in her eyes, "I'll go first." She spun violently and pointed a finger at Yamato. "What were you doing with the contents of my backpack last night?" His eyes widened as he stumbled over his words.
"I, ah, that it, I thought it might be a good idea if I stayed up guard, you know, as protection, and, um, how did you know?" Mimi glared at him.
"My notebook was behind my sketchbook this morning, not in front of it. Go on with your HONEST answer." The edge on Mimi's voice was not unintentional. She was trying to scare a full answer out of Yamato while making sure he never unzipped her backpack again, with or without her permission.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have, but I was just so bored, and I thought you might have a book or something in there!" Mimi suppressed a smirk; he was so easy to break.
"And I don't have any books in there, so what did you do instead, read my notebook?" Mimi stood on her toes and glared directly in Yamato's face.
"What is this, and ice-breaker or an interrogation?" Koushiro interrupted, slightly annoyed. Mimi pulled back and folded her arms matter-of-factly.
"I'm merely trying to get a full answer, that's all. You two may do the same when it's your turn."
"I read your damn notebook, ok? There was a story in it, so I read it." Yamato's voice turned bitter. "And it wasn't the kind of story that should be written anyway, so full of hatred and words that make us sound like total animals." Mimi slowed walking and her eyes widened.
"You, read THAT story?" she gasped. "How could you? How COULD you?" At first Yamato thought Mimi was mad, but then he saw the tears welling up in her eyes and the horrified expression on her face. "That's not a story that's meant to be read! That's a stream of consciousness, personal feelings welled up deep inside clawing away at your heart until eventually they have to be let out. That's not the kind of story that's meant to be read by anyone!" She tried to cover up her tears, but they streamed out of her eyes and cascaded down her cheeks all the same. "How could you," she muttered, her words choking her.
Abruptly she lifted her right hand and slapped herself on the cheek. Then, smiling weakly, she turned toward Yamato and said, her voice straining, "your turn."
Yamato thought for a moment, planning out how to word his thoughts, then asked "is it true what you wrote in there; do you believe it? And," he added quickly, before Mimi could answer, "was that story based off of, personal experience?" Mimi's smug look returned to her face as she answered.
"I suppose," she replied, "a writer must believe at least some of what they write, in order to make it believable, despite their persona. At times I do hate the male gender, and I have plenty of reasons to do so." She stared Yamato straight in the face, "The story, however, was based purely off of personal observation, not experience." She giggled briefly and then looked back at the path ahead. Yamato felt relieved, at least a little, but felt like he was left with only a half-answer. Koushiro, meanwhile, couldn't have been more confused.
"What are they talking about? What journal entry? Well, I suppose it's not any of my business anyway. Oh, great, it's my turn now, what am I going to ask?" He thought for a moment, racking his brain for an intelligent question that didn't relate to the previous topic yet still would be of interest. "Mimi, have-" he was cut off by a loud crashing noise coming from up ahead. Yamato grabbed his brother's arm and pulled him closer to the group. Gabumon and Tentomon, who until now had silently trailed behind the foursome, now leapt forward, alertly scanning the area for danger.
"Aaah! Nii-chan, nii-chan," Takeru whimpered, pulling on his brother's shirtsleeve and pointing into the trees. There, five ghost-like creatures floated. Mimi's eyes widened.
"Bakemon!" Tentomon wailed.
"Run?" She squeaked. Yamato and Koushiro nodded stiffly before dashing back up the path with Takeru, Mimi, and the three Digimon following. Then, no more than ten feet away, two more ghost-like Digimon emerged from the trees. The group skidded to a halt and looked behind them where the five other Digimon floated. They were completely surrounded. "So what now?" Mimi shrieked.
"Don't worry," Gabumon replied, "we'll fight for you." Determination rang in his voice, but the three Digimon were hopelessly outnumbered.
The fight was over before any of the humans had time to see it. Gabumon and Tentomon lay on the ground and Patamon had been flung into a tree. The Bakemon grinned and advanced on the foursome, who had collapsed to the ground shaking.
"Help" Mimi squeaked. One of the Bakemon reached an arm out towards her, its teeth gnashing at the air. Mimi covered her head with her arms and tried to scream, but her voice caught in her throat and a mere peep escaped her mouth. The Bakemon wailed suddenly, as did the others. Mimi waited and, nothing. She slowly glanced up and, seeing the Bakemon no less than ten centimeters away from her head, screamed and quickly scooted towards the riverbank. Panting, she looked at the Bakemon, but it was stone still. She glanced around; the six other Bakemon appeared to be suspended, frozen, in midair. She looked at the other three. "What, happened?"
"Why, I did that." Mimi turned around towards the river and shrieked. "Well, it would appear that you remember me."
~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~
Author's note: Eh, sorry I take so long with my story. Just about all of my creativity and other writing skill kinda get drained with all of the English papers that I have to write. Maybe over winter break . . . ? Kind of a bizarre place for me to end this chapter, I realize. That's why it's part 1! ^^ Please enjoy the future chapters, and don't forget to comment. The more, and the more detailed, the better!
Takeru, acting as any other excited little kid would, was the first one up out of the group sleeping along the riverbank. And, just as any other excited little kid, he made sure that everyone else knew it. Carrying Patamon in his arms like a teddy bear, he ran over to his brother, his little feet slapping against the sandy ground.
"Onii-chan! Onii-chan!" his voice rang out as he shook his brother awake. Yamato, dazed from just being woken up, moaned and rolled over, shielding his eyes from the bright morning sun. Takeru crinkled his face in frustration and shook his brother's shoulder again. "Come on, get up! It's morning and I want breakfast!" Yamato strained to open his eyes; his midnight sentry duty had deprived him of hours of sleep, and it was probably just an hour after sunrise anyway.
Yamato stumbled up and sauntered over to where Koushiro lay sleeping. Tentomon, who was just a few feet away, woke up and cheerfully greeted Yamato and Takeru.
"Ah, good morning!" he greeted, "you two must love mornings enough to get up at this hour, considering how tired you must be from yesterday." Yamato growled at the reminder. The first night at camp he barely slept a wink, and then he ran around looking for his brother and running from monsters, then he had to carry Mimi, and then he stayed up half the night AGAIN playing guard duty.
"This is worse than cramming for high-school entrance exams," he muttered. A harsh beeping sound, slightly muffled, rang out, disturbing the relatively quiet scene. Koushiro stirred, sat up, and popped open his laptop. He punched a few keys on its keyboard and the noise stopped. Koushiro closed his laptop and looked up at the brothers.
"Well, it would appear that my computer's alarm clock is operational." Yamato stared at him.
"You mean, that thing has an alarm clock?" Koushiro nodded.
"Granted, it wasn't a standard feature, I had to install the new parts and rewire the clock so that at a certain time, the speaker would let off a noise, regardless of the computer's condition, on or off. I'd like to run the system through the CD player as well, so that the alarm would let off a song rather than a beep. Rather annoying currently, wouldn't you say?" Yamato started to raise an eyebrow, but decided it took too much brainpower at this time of day so he didn't. Takeru tugged on his shirt.
"Yamato, I'm hungry!" he reminded him. Yamato nodded in agreement.
"But the only food we have is Mimi's, so I think we should wait until she wakes up and let her divide up the remaining food," Yamato told him. Takeru began to whimper in protest. Gabumon, who had wandered over to where they were standing, stepped forward a step.
"I'll just go wake her then!" he told them, and he scampered over to where Mimi lay.
"I wouldn't do that-" Yamato protested, but Gabumon didn't hear. He reached a yellow paw over and gently shook Mimi's shoulder. Her eyes slowly opened and looked right up at the Digimon's face. She sat straight up and let out a piercing scream. Gabumon jumped back and Mimi stood straight up.
"Don't EVER do that to me again! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" she yelled, pointing a finger at the Digimon. She then fell back to the ground. "Ugh, stood up too fast." Yamato walked over and held out a hand.
"You ok?" She looked up at him and all the memories of what she had written in the notebook flooded back to him. Yamato almost pulled his hand away, but stopped himself. "I can't let on any clues that I read the story; she'd kill me!" he told himself. Mimi grasped his hand and pulled herself up slowly.
"What a way to wake up," she muttered, dusting dirt off of her dress. Koushiro smiled.
"It would appear," he stated, walking over, "that you have gained the use of your legs again." Mimi looked at him for a moment, and suddenly remembered.
"Right right, I couldn't walk at all yesterday," she replied. "Well, at least I can stand now, but they are unbelievably stiff." She took a few quick steps to test her walking capabilities and stopped short, bending down to massage her muscles. "My calves hurt like hell, though." She stumbled over to a rock and sat down, still rubbing her legs.
Takeru rummaged through one of the smaller pockets of Mimi's backpack. "What's this?" he asked Mimi, as he held up slender, white plastic wrapper. Mimi's eyes widened, mortified, and she leaped towards him, snatching the tampon from his grasp and stuffed it in her backpack.
"It's nothing, absolutely nothing!" she stammered in embarrassment. "Don't go through my backpack ever again!" Koushiro started chuckling, and then unable to hold it in, burst out laughing. Yamato looked around, searching for the source of the joke.
"What, what? I missed something; what is so funny?" he demanded of Koushiro, who upon seeing Mimi's harsh glare told him that it was nothing. Yamato scowled in frustration and stomped over to his brother, who appeared to be on the verge of tears.
"I-I was just trying to look for food," he sniffled. Yamato ruffled his hair to comfort him. Mimi pulled out a packet of chocolate pocky and opened it. She handed Takeru a stick.
"I'm afraid that we'll have to split this for breakfast. She divided up the sticks and handed one to everyone, including the Digimon who gobbled it up in a flash. The remaining pieces she placed back in the package and stuck in her backpack. "Lunch" she muttered to herself.
"Well," Koushiro brushed himself off as he stood from breakfast, "now's as good a time to leave as any. Everyone ready?"
"I suppose," Mimi picked up her backpack and handed it to Yamato. "If you don't mind?" Grumbling a little, but only a little, he slung the backpack over his shoulders and they were off.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The first hour or so of walking proved uncomfortably uneventful. Meaningful conversation was virtually nonexistent, as no one could come up with an appropriate topic that they thought the others would find interesting. The scenery never seemed to change, adding to the dull nature of the situation.
"Why isn't Mimi talking?" Yamato wondered. "Yesterday she seemed sociable enough. Could it be, that she knows that I read her journal? Or maybe that-oh I don't know!" He glanced over at Koushiro. "I'm not too surprised he's staying silent; except when the topic strays to computers, that guy keeps his mouth shut. Is that all he ever thinks about?"
Ironically, at that moment, computers were the topic furthest from Koushiro's mind.
"Jeez my back hurts from sleeping on the beach," Koushiro complained to himself. "I've never really minded being outdoors, but the terrain! I miss my own bed." He quickly glanced over at the others, silently staring ahead as they walked along. "I wonder how they're dealing with all of this, physically and mentally. Mimi's mobility has returned, but she hasn't seemed even the least bit happy. Her attitude on the bus was more apathetic, now it's, something else. Can't quite put my finger on it."
Mimi, on the other hand, had her mind on only one thing: food.
"I am sooooo hungry!" she silently whimpered. "How can I be expected to live off of a stick of Pocky? The water around here isn't exactly what I'd call sanitary, either. Gotta stop thinking about food. I know! I'll put on my headphones. Wait, that might be considered rude. But no one's talking, and I'm too hungry to start a conversation. Ack! Food again. Oh this is not going to be pleasant." Mimi pressed on her stomach, trying to suppress the painful empty feeling she wasn't accustomed to.
"Hungry?" Yamato asked. Mimi nodded her head slightly and cringed, whimpering slightly. "Just think of your least favorite food, and ask yourself 'am I hungry enough to eat that?' and imagine yourself eating it." Mimi thought for a moment.
"Cucumbers," she decided. Then she closed her eyes and imagined herself picking up a slice and dropping it into her mouth. The slimy seeds slipped over her tongue and the sickly sweet flavor burst in her mouth, causing convulsions in her stomach. She held her nose to swallow it, but she could still taste it in her mouth.
"That helped, thanks," Mimi told Yamato, feeling a little sickly from the pretend cucumber. "Better alternative than hunger."
"Ya know," Koushiro interjected, "we should try playing a game to get to know each other better. We've been thrust into the same difficult situation, after all, and it may be beneficial later on if we feel more comfortable around each other."
"Fine with me," Mimi stated blandly. Yamato just shrugged. "What kind of game?"
"We each take turns in asking one other member of the group a question about themselves that they must answer, truthfully may I add. Other than keeping the questions relatively appropriate, there are no rules." Yamato nodded his head in approval. Koushiro turned to Mimi. "Well?" Mimi thought for a moment.
"I'll play, as long as I get to be the judge of whether the question is appropriate or not. AND," she added, abruptly, "Takeru has to wear my headphones the entire time. If I know guys, and even girls for that matter, the questions won't stay appropriate for long." She unzipped the backpack, still on Yamato's shoulders, and took out her CD player. "Here you go," she said as she knelt down and handed it to Takeru. "Now be careful with it, and turn up the volume so you can't hear us, but don't blow out your ears, okay?" Takeru nodded his head vigorously.
"Okay!"
Mimi stood back up. "Ok," she proclaimed, with a mischievous glint in her eyes, "I'll go first." She spun violently and pointed a finger at Yamato. "What were you doing with the contents of my backpack last night?" His eyes widened as he stumbled over his words.
"I, ah, that it, I thought it might be a good idea if I stayed up guard, you know, as protection, and, um, how did you know?" Mimi glared at him.
"My notebook was behind my sketchbook this morning, not in front of it. Go on with your HONEST answer." The edge on Mimi's voice was not unintentional. She was trying to scare a full answer out of Yamato while making sure he never unzipped her backpack again, with or without her permission.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have, but I was just so bored, and I thought you might have a book or something in there!" Mimi suppressed a smirk; he was so easy to break.
"And I don't have any books in there, so what did you do instead, read my notebook?" Mimi stood on her toes and glared directly in Yamato's face.
"What is this, and ice-breaker or an interrogation?" Koushiro interrupted, slightly annoyed. Mimi pulled back and folded her arms matter-of-factly.
"I'm merely trying to get a full answer, that's all. You two may do the same when it's your turn."
"I read your damn notebook, ok? There was a story in it, so I read it." Yamato's voice turned bitter. "And it wasn't the kind of story that should be written anyway, so full of hatred and words that make us sound like total animals." Mimi slowed walking and her eyes widened.
"You, read THAT story?" she gasped. "How could you? How COULD you?" At first Yamato thought Mimi was mad, but then he saw the tears welling up in her eyes and the horrified expression on her face. "That's not a story that's meant to be read! That's a stream of consciousness, personal feelings welled up deep inside clawing away at your heart until eventually they have to be let out. That's not the kind of story that's meant to be read by anyone!" She tried to cover up her tears, but they streamed out of her eyes and cascaded down her cheeks all the same. "How could you," she muttered, her words choking her.
Abruptly she lifted her right hand and slapped herself on the cheek. Then, smiling weakly, she turned toward Yamato and said, her voice straining, "your turn."
Yamato thought for a moment, planning out how to word his thoughts, then asked "is it true what you wrote in there; do you believe it? And," he added quickly, before Mimi could answer, "was that story based off of, personal experience?" Mimi's smug look returned to her face as she answered.
"I suppose," she replied, "a writer must believe at least some of what they write, in order to make it believable, despite their persona. At times I do hate the male gender, and I have plenty of reasons to do so." She stared Yamato straight in the face, "The story, however, was based purely off of personal observation, not experience." She giggled briefly and then looked back at the path ahead. Yamato felt relieved, at least a little, but felt like he was left with only a half-answer. Koushiro, meanwhile, couldn't have been more confused.
"What are they talking about? What journal entry? Well, I suppose it's not any of my business anyway. Oh, great, it's my turn now, what am I going to ask?" He thought for a moment, racking his brain for an intelligent question that didn't relate to the previous topic yet still would be of interest. "Mimi, have-" he was cut off by a loud crashing noise coming from up ahead. Yamato grabbed his brother's arm and pulled him closer to the group. Gabumon and Tentomon, who until now had silently trailed behind the foursome, now leapt forward, alertly scanning the area for danger.
"Aaah! Nii-chan, nii-chan," Takeru whimpered, pulling on his brother's shirtsleeve and pointing into the trees. There, five ghost-like creatures floated. Mimi's eyes widened.
"Bakemon!" Tentomon wailed.
"Run?" She squeaked. Yamato and Koushiro nodded stiffly before dashing back up the path with Takeru, Mimi, and the three Digimon following. Then, no more than ten feet away, two more ghost-like Digimon emerged from the trees. The group skidded to a halt and looked behind them where the five other Digimon floated. They were completely surrounded. "So what now?" Mimi shrieked.
"Don't worry," Gabumon replied, "we'll fight for you." Determination rang in his voice, but the three Digimon were hopelessly outnumbered.
The fight was over before any of the humans had time to see it. Gabumon and Tentomon lay on the ground and Patamon had been flung into a tree. The Bakemon grinned and advanced on the foursome, who had collapsed to the ground shaking.
"Help" Mimi squeaked. One of the Bakemon reached an arm out towards her, its teeth gnashing at the air. Mimi covered her head with her arms and tried to scream, but her voice caught in her throat and a mere peep escaped her mouth. The Bakemon wailed suddenly, as did the others. Mimi waited and, nothing. She slowly glanced up and, seeing the Bakemon no less than ten centimeters away from her head, screamed and quickly scooted towards the riverbank. Panting, she looked at the Bakemon, but it was stone still. She glanced around; the six other Bakemon appeared to be suspended, frozen, in midair. She looked at the other three. "What, happened?"
"Why, I did that." Mimi turned around towards the river and shrieked. "Well, it would appear that you remember me."
~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~
Author's note: Eh, sorry I take so long with my story. Just about all of my creativity and other writing skill kinda get drained with all of the English papers that I have to write. Maybe over winter break . . . ? Kind of a bizarre place for me to end this chapter, I realize. That's why it's part 1! ^^ Please enjoy the future chapters, and don't forget to comment. The more, and the more detailed, the better!