Me: Hey everyone! I'm writing this chapter from beautiful Florida!

BWG: I must say Ri2; I'm having trouble staying angry at you now that you've taken me here.

Me: Great!
BWG: But I'll find a way to hate you, don't you worry.

Me: ...

"Grani?"

"Yes Guilmon?"

"I'm hungry…"

Grani sighed. It had been one day since they left Dragon Roost, and they were still en route to Forest Haven. "I told you to eat before we left!"

"No you didn't!"

"…Hmm, I suppose you're right. But what do you expect me to do about it?"

"You're a magic boat, can't you conjure me some food or something?"

"No! However…"

"Yeah?"

"Did you find a grappling hook on the island?"

Guilmon took out his grappling hook. "You mean this one?"

"Perfect! Place it in the hatch!" A hatch flipped open. Guilmon dropped in the hook. The hatch shut, and another hatch opened up on Grani's underside. The flying boat slowed to a stop. A huge crane arm lowered from the bottom of the boat, dropping into the water. There was a snap from below after a few minutes, and the crane came back up, carrying a whole bunch of fish with it! The crane arm swung up and over the side of the boat, dumping the fish onto the deck. "Enjoy!"

"Wow, thanks Grani!" Guilmon eagerly devoured the flopping fish. But when he was done, he found he was still hungry. "Can I have some more?"

"I'm afraid not, there aren't many fish in these parts. If I give you too many, there won't be anymore for anyone else, and we'd be guilty of over fishing!"

"But I'm still hungry…"

"You'll just have to wait until we get to Forest Haven. If you ask nicely, the locals might give you something to eat. Don't worry, we're almost there."

When they actually reached Forest Haven, the sheer majesty of the island made Guilmon forget all about his hunger. "Wow!"

"Yeah, cool isn't it?" The island known as Forest Haven was really made up of two islands, both of them towering wooden structures rising from the sea. The island closest to our flying friends had a nice homey look, with grassy platforms and pools of water on the outside. The second island was much more foreboding, with great thorny tendrils wrapped around it. Grani landed on a beach on the closer island, dropping Guilmon off. "Inside that wooden enclosure is an old friend of mine, the Forest Spirit. He possesses the next item we seek, Seraphimon's Pearl. Just mention my name, and he'll fork it over."

"How is it that all these important spirits and stuff know you?"

"Let's just say I'm a fairly important person and leave it at that. Now get going already! For all we know, Lucemon's forces could be here already."

Guilmon nodded and started up a trail from the beach, leading to a grassy platform extending from the big wooden structure. As he reached the platform, he was knocked onto his tail as a hungry Blossomon erupted from a bush, eager for a piece of his data. Guilmon quickly pulled out his sword. As the flower lunged for him, Guilmon ducked and swung his sword at Blossomon's vine neck, severing the head from the body. Guilmon absorbed the data of the head and body and continued on his way. He killed two more Blossomon on his way to the top of the platform, where he found a hill overlooking a waterfall. The waterfall was fed by a stream that went back a ways and came out through a hole in the side of the wooden structure. Guilmon figured that was how he could get inside. But how to get there? Looking around, he saw a wooden post sticking out of the wall. Smiling, he took out his grappling hook and used it to swing to a small island in the stream near the edge of the waterfall. As he landed, he was immediately attacked by an Octomon which emerged from the water upstream and began to throw rocks at him. Guilmon quickly raised his shield to defend himself. The shield deflected the rocks back at the octopus, stunning it and causing it to fall back into the water. "That was easy," he muttered. He took a running jump, landing on a higher platform near the edge of the stream. A Blossomon occupying the platform soon sound itself headless and dead. Guilmon jumped from this platform to another island and from there to a platform jutting out from a very small waterfall. As he pulled himself up, some rocks thrown by another pesky Octomon sailed over his head. He used his shield to deflect the rocks, then used his grappling hook on a post to swing over to the pool at the beginning of a stream, where the current was minimal. He waded across the water, entering the hole in the wooden wall.

Guilmon looked around the inside of the wooden enclosure in awe. It was a small forest, fed by glittering pools of water with shimmering fireflies darting about. Weird-looking giant flowers grew all over the place, and a monolithic tree grew from the center of the area, so tall that its canopy covered most of the top of the enclosure, blotting out the sunlight. The tree had a somewhat homely face, indicating it was a Digimon. The tree was moaning as if it was in pain. Guilmon went over to the tree. "Is something wrong?"

"Help…me…" The tree gasped. At that, several Numemon wormed their way out of the tree's face. Guilmon gasped. The mollusks were sucking the life from the giant Digimon. He knew he had to take action immediately. He took several steps back, then charged forward and rammed into the tree with a head butt. The force of his attack knocked the Numemon loose from their hold on the tree. Angry, the slugs all started swarming towards Guilmon. The reptile pulled out his sword and started slicing the Numemon to pieces, reducing them to a cloud of green data. Once he had killed the last Numemon and loaded all the data, the tree sighed in relief. "Thank you." Without warning, a huge lily pad rose out of the water Guilmon was standing in, elevating the reptile up to the tree's eye level. "Thank you, brave warrior. I am RedWoodmon, Spirit of the Forest. Who are you?"

"My name is Guilmon, sir."

"Guilmon, eh? Well, let me thank you once more for rescuing me from those parasites. Seeing as how I'm rooted here, I am incapable of protecting myself from harm. My children usually clear out any parasites, but they were frightened by the sheer number of Numemon. If it weren't for you, I very well could have lost my life to those slugs. Is there any way I might be able to reward you?"

"I've heard that you possess an object called Seraphimon's Pearl. Do you think I could have it?" Guilmon asked hopefully.

RedWoodmon looked surprised. "The treasure of the goddess Seraphimon? I possess it, yes, but it is not something I may give away lightly. Why would you need such a thing?"

"Grani sent me to get it."

The tree's eyes widened. "Grani sent you?" He started laughing. "Ah, I wonder what that old coot's up to now?"

"We need it to stop Lucemon, Mr. Forest Spirit." Said Guilmon, bristling slightly at the insult to Grani.

The tree stopped. "Lucemon's back? But-but that's impossible!"

Guilmon shook his head. "Nope. I saw him. He's back all right."

RedWoodmon thought for a minute. "Very well then. Considering the circumstances, I believe it would be acceptable to grant you the Pearl."

"Great!"

"However, I can't give it to you just this second. You've come at a bit of an inopportune time, you see. Today is when a yearly ceremony takes place in which my children take my seeds and scatter them across the ocean to create new forests and replace those chopped down by overzealous lumberjacks. Do you think you could wait until the completion of the ceremony for me to give you the Pearl? It will only be a few minutes."

Guilmon shrugged. "Okay, I can wait."

"Good. Come out my children! This boy means us no harm! Come out, so we may complete the ceremony!" There was a lull, and then several plant Digimon emerged from their hiding places and flew up to the lily pad with two-leaved stems used like helicopters. "Guilmon, you should feel honored. You're about to witness a ceremony that no outsider has ever seen! Okay, roll call time! Palmon?"

"Here!"

"Floramon?"

"Here!"

"Alraumon?"

"Here!"

"Woodmon?"

"Here!"

Cherrymon?"

"Here!"

"Lilymon?"

"Here!"

"Tanemon?"

"Here!"

"Leafmon?"

"Here!"

"Arbormon?" There was no response. "Arbormon?"

"I think he and Mushroomon are off exploring somewhere." Said Palmon.

RedWoodmon groaned. "Argh, those two are always late! Why can't they show up on time just once for this very important ceremony? Year after year, it's the same damn thing-"

"RedWoodmon!" An Arbormon descended into the forest on his helicopter step.

RedWoodmon narrowed his eyes. "Arbormon, where have you been? And where's Mushroomon? How many times have I told you the ceremony cannot be done without-"

"Great RedWoodmon, Mushroomon's been captured!"

Everyone gasped. "C-captured? By whom?"

"By monsters in the Forbidden Woods!"

More gasps. RedWoodmon growled. "I forbade you all from ever going back to the Woods! That's why they're called the Forbidden Woods in the first place!"

Arbormon bowed his head. "I'm sorry RedWoodmon, but we just couldn't resist! Mushroomon wanted to see if we could take our homes back from those invading monsters that stole it!"

The giant tree groaned. "This is just perfect! If Mushroomon isn't here, then we can't complete the ceremony! My seeds will wilt, and it'll take another year to grow them back! And who knows how many trees will be cut down by then?"

"Um…does this mean I can't have the Pearl?" Guilmon asked timidly.

RedWoodmon frowned. "I'm sorry Guilmon, but this ceremony is too important. I can't give you the Pearl until after the ceremony. And we can't even begin the ceremony without Mushroomon!"

"What if I went to the Forbidden Woods and brought Mushroomon back? Then could you perform the ceremony?"

The plants all looked at him in surprise. "You would go to the Woods and bring him back?"

"Yes!"

The tree blinked. "Well then, of course we could perform the ceremony! But are you sure you want to do this? The Woods are a very dangerous place, ever since it became infested with monsters recently."

"I can handle them! I cleared out Dragon Roost Cavern and saved the Sky Spirit Skydramon, this shouldn't be too difficult!"

RedWoodmon looked impressed. "All right. However, you should know that it is not easy for one who cannot fly like my children to get to the Forbidden Woods. Therefore-"

"You're going to give me wings?" Guilmon asked hopefully.

"…No, I'm going to give you this!" A huge leaf trembled and fell from its branch, drifting down to the ground where Guilmon picked it up. "This leaf will allow you to glide through the air. It can also generate gusts of wind when you flap it like a fan. It should come in handy when you fight the monsters in the Woods."

Guilmon hid his disappointment. He had really wanted wings. "Okay, how do I get to the Woods?"

"Do you see that ledge high up the wall of this enclosure?"

"Yeah…"

"Get up there, and it's a cinch to get to the Forbidden Woods!"

Guilmon face faulted. "AND JUST HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO GET UP THERE?!"

"Easy! Children?"

The plant Digimon all swarmed around Guilmon. "Hey, what are you do-"They lifted him up and flew to the top of the enclosure, dropping him on the ledge.

"There you go!" said RedWoodmon.

"Um, thanks!" Guilmon yelled to the plants as they flew back down to the ground. "Don't worry RedWoodmon, I'll find Mushroomon and bring him back in one piece!"

"Good luck!" yelled the tree as Guilmon ran through the opening in the wall on the ledge.

Guilmon found himself on a ledge jutting from the wall of the enclosure, facing the second thorny island. That was probably where the Forbidden Woods were. There was a ledge and an opening leading into the island, but Guilmon wasn't sure that he could reach the ledge by gliding. It was too far away, and almost the same height as his current ledge. Guilmon looked around, trying to find a solution to his problem, and noticed a pillar rising out of the ocean. He could easily glide to that. What's more, there was a wind funnel circling the pillar that he could probably use to get enough altitude to glide right over to the thorny island! Guilmon pulled out the giant leaf and was about to jump off when he had a thought. If the wind was blowing in the wrong direction, he could be knocked off course and fall into the sea. That would be bad. Guilmon took out the Wind Waker and played the Wind's Requiem, directing the wind to the southeast so he could glide to the pillar. He then put away the baton, grabbed hold of his leaf, and jumped off of the ledge. He felt a sudden thrill as he soared with the wind, gliding towards his destination. It felt almost like what he had felt when flying on Grani's back, but not quite as swift. Oh, if only he could fly for real, and not glide or depend on the wings of others! Guilmon gracefully landed on the top of the column and pulled out the Wind Waker again. This time, he directed the wind to the southwest, towards the Forbidden Woods. He grabbed hold of his leaf once more and jumped off the pillar, gliding into the wind funnel. The funnel sent him flying upward, granting him the altitude he needed to soar over to the ledge on the forbidden island. He touched down on the ledge, put away his leaf, and entered the opening in the wall.

Me: Done!

BWG: Huh, that was pretty short.

Me: Yeah, I'm a little disappointed.

BWG: Then why don't you make it longer?

Me: Nah, there's no need to.

BWG: Whatever.

Me: What will it take to make you like me?

BWG: Vast amounts of money.

Me: But I'm broke!

BWG: I know.

Me: Grrr…here's the fan mail responses!

KG2, there are no humans in this story whatsoever. Sorry.

D3fan, thanks for the support, but I don't think it's going to convince my partner to change his ways.

BWG: Damn straight.

Me: I also have a question for you readers. Can anyone tell me what Lucemon's dragon form is called? I would really appreciate knowing the answer.

BWG: He needs to know because Lucemon's going to change into his dragon form later on and-

Me: SHUT UP!