Chapter 4: Reflections
Matt had barely sat down to tend to the fire when a loud "RARRRR!" echoed throughout the camp, followed by a scream. Tai sprang to his feet.
"That came from the lake!" He cried.
"It's Koga!" Sora realized, racing towards the waterfront.
"Sora!" Biyomon flew after her. Everyone ran towards the lake to see a monster emerge with Koga in its grasp.
"Who's that?" Mimi questioned.
"It's Airdramon!" Tentomon declared. "Airdramon's fierce Spinning Needle attack will leave you spinning! Ooo, that's gotta hurt!"
"You digi-destined think you're so buff?" Airdramon roared. "Well, you'll never leave the digital world alive!" He tightened his grip on Koga. "I'll start with this one..."
"Ah-ahhhh!" Koga screamed in pain before blacking out. A little device on her belt began to shine.
"Koga!" Tsunamon proclaimed. She advanced closer.
"No wait Tsunamon! It's too risky for an in-training digimon," Gabumon warned.
"I have to save my friend!" Tsunamon shouted.
Tsunamon digivolve to... Wofamon!
"Wofamon is the rookie evolution of Tsunamon. Better watch out; her lightning Howling Strike can knock you out!" Tentomon stated. The digi-destined looked at Tsunamon's new form. Although somewhat like Gabumon, Wofamon was more slendor in form, and while Gabumon had two pairs of arms on his wolf skin, Wofamon had four, and her stripes were a lighter blue, like her slanted eyes. Her tummy was also completely yellow. Other than that, Wofamon looked exactly like the bashful rookie digimon beside her.
"You let go of her you brute! Howling Strike!" A flash of energy sprang from her mouth, hitting Airdramon's arm. He released Koga, snarling in pain, and she fell into the lake. "Koga!" Wofamon jumped into the lake, only to come out sputtering and coughing from the water. Mimi and Kari dragged her ashore. "I- cough cough I- can't swim," Wofamon stuttered.
"Bwahaha! Silly digimon!" Airdramon cackled. "Prepare to be destroyed!"
"Agumon! You better digivolve!" Tai suggested.
"Yeah Gabumon, help finish this guy off!" Matt encouraged.
"Right!" The digimon replied.
Agumon digivolve to... Greymon!
Gabumon digivolve to... Garurumon!
"Nova Blast!" Greymon's shot flailed straight into Airdramon's chest.
"Howling Blaster!" Garurumon aimed for the same spot. Airdramon let out a scream in defeat, and slowly disintegrated.
"Patamon! Digivolve to save Koga!" TK shouted.
"You should help Gatomon," Kari said.
Patamon digivolve to... Angemon!
Gatomon digivolve to... Angewomon!
They dove into the lake.
Koga could barely feel the water around her, encasing her in an unconscious darkness.
'Where am I?' She wondered, looking around. 'Am I.. dead?' Koga squinted. She could make out a tiny white glow in the distance. All of a sudden, the white glow filled everything around her, and Koga felt her body being rushed to the horizon, her surroundings slowly coming into focus… 'Wait,' Koga blinked. 'Could it be...?' The old planked wooden floors, the old light blue carpet, the old armchairs and sofas, the old view of the bridge; it was her old apartment back at Highten View Terrace, the one she grew up in, where her childhood seemed so much happier then...
-Flashback-
The night rolled on in silence, like thunder in the distance. Koga sat up. Being seven, the night sounds were fascinating to her, but there was nothing - you could have heard a pin drop. Koga dropped down from bed and walked out onto her balcony. Highten View Terrace looked pretty at night, the city lights sparkling against the darkness. Koga could see the highway bridge and the river with ferries going back and forth in the distance. Sora - her best friend - lived a couple of floors below her to the right. Koga knelt over the edge of the balcony and picked up an old can.
"Psst. Psst," she whispered. "Sora, wake up."
"I'm already awake," the familiar voice replied. "You couldn't sleep too?"
"Yeah, it's really weirdo out here," Koga started. "Like aren't there-" Suddenly, a cry broke through the night silence, and a blast of fire shot through the air. The girls froze.
"Wha-What was that?" Sora questioned. The cry wasn't human. "Wait... is that Tai?"
"Who?" Koga whispered. She looked over the railing to see a little boy with a large mass of brown hair and blue pajamas run across the street in the direction of the blast. Koga dropped the can and climbed over the balcony. "Koga!" Sora hissed. "You shouldn't go out there!"
"Mom and Dad won't mind," Koga said, grabbing the can again. "Besides, they haven't noticed-" Small explosions erupted in the air. Where there had been one blast, there were now a series of them. Koga made up her mind. "I'm going!"
"Koga!" Sora urged.
"Don't worry Sora. You know I'm good at climbing," Koga smiled. Suddenly, the sky grew darker, as if the stars had sucked themselves into a black hole. Out of the corner of her eye Koga could see a figure fly down from the sky. 'It's probably just a plane,' Koga thought as she made her way from the third floor down. Waving goodbye, Koga ran to the scene, but she didn't notice the light from her room. Koga's mom opened the sliding door to the balcony.
"Ko- Koga!" Mrs. Kishi called, and saw her daughter cross the street below. Just then, a huge roar sounded like a wave throughout the city, followed by a screech. "Oh my god," Mrs. Kishi whispered. She ran inside.
Koga had just rounded the corner when a loud cry chilled her to the bone. Ahead of her were two monsters; they looked nothing like the ones that came out of closets. They were both as big as buses: the dinosaur-like one had a triceratops skull over his orange head, and the other monster looked like an oversized parrot of green and yellow stripes. The two monsters were battling. Koga saw two kids off to the side - the boy from before was holding a younger girl in pink pajamas and.. a whistle? The parrot monster let out a cry. Koga quickly hid in a bush.
"Go Greymon!" The little girl shouted. The dinosaur grunted and pushed harder. The parrot monster fought with equal force, for the two monsters were in an arm lock... But then out of the corner of his eye he spotted Koga. Mrs. Kishi reached the clearing.
"Koga!" She gasped. The parrot monster flew high and blasted in all directions. One shot headed straight for Koga. Mrs. Kishi grabbed her daughter and shoved her aside. Koga rolled out of the way, and the blast went straight through her mother's back.
-End Flashback-
' ... My father really loved my mother. After she died... The view of that bridge was just too painful for the both of us. The Takenouchi's moved into a bigger place in Odaiba. Sora's mom offered us a home till we got own place in Odaiba. But everything changed after Mom died. Dad just keeps to himself. All he does nowadays is his case work...' There was a small dim light-blue light in the distance. 'What's that?' Koga queried, fascinated by the glow. She reached out to grab it, and everything went black again.
'There she is!' Angewomon swam faster as Koga fell further. Together, the two angel digimon grabbed Koga and flew as fast as they could to the surface. Emerging as quick as lightning, they gently lay Koga down on shore.
"Koga!" Wofamon ran over. "Are you all right? Please wake up!" She shook her friend. In a moment, Koga awoke and coughed out bunches of water. She looked at the new rookie digimon standing before her.
"Tsunamon?" Koga held her head.
"Not anymore," Wofamon giggled. "My name is Wofamon, the rookie form of Tsunamon."
"How did that happen?" Koga questioned.
"Your digimon digivolved to save you," Izzy replied, and received a puzzled stare.
"Huh?" Koga quizzed.
"Well, you see, Digimon have different levels of evolution, starting from baby to in-training to rookie to champion to ultimate to mega. To reach each level there are different things you need to do. For example, to reach the ultimate level, you need a crest," Izzy explained.
"We also have digivices," TK stated, taking out his digivice. "See? Do you have one?" TK beamed.
"Do you mean this?" Koga took out a little device from her belt.
"That's your digivice!" TK declared happily. Koga smiled, and then looked down at the glow she remembered grabbing. In the palm of her hand lay a little light-blue crest.
"Huh?" Koga wondered out loud. The group gathered around her.
"That's your crest," Sora smiled. The crest held two symbols: a crescent moon and a star that sat right alongside each other.
"Oooo, it's pretty!" Mimi commented.
"What does it mean?" Wofamon asked.
"I have no idea," Koga answered.
"How did you find it?" Tai asked. "Was it at the bottom of the lake?"
"I don't know.." Koga said. "One minute I was-" She stopped short. Only Matt could see a flash of hurt in her eyes. "I saw a glowing light. I can't really explain it."
"Hmm... Prodigious!" Izzy mused. "Your crest only glows if you have your digitag."
"Do you have one?" Kari asked.
"Oh, you mean this?" Koga took a little device from out of her pocket. "I got it with my digivice when I got here. I kept them because I thought they might come in handy, but I used the string for my flute," she took a side glance at Matt. The crest in her hand then appeared inside the tag.
"Wait... How did you get here?" Joe asked.
"Well," Koga explained. (Flashback) "I was walking home from the dojo when I saw the digital world above me, like a rift in the sky. As I stared, a light floated down from the sky towards me. I reached for it before it hit the floor. The next thing I knew it was like I was being sucked up through the sky. I awoke with Tsunamon in my face."
"Koga wasn't too happy about that," Wofamon added.
"It took me a while to realize Tsunamon was friendly," Koga sheepishly grinned.
"A while is right! I got hurled into at least four trees!" Wofamon protested.
"Ahhh I'm sorry Wofamon," Koga said. The group laughed.
"Tai, does this mean Koga's another digi-destined?" Kari asked.
"Gennai said there were only eight of us," Tai pondered.
"Maybe we should visit him. We haven't seen him since the Dark Masters were defeated, and I'm sure he'd want to see us again," Sora suggested.
"Prodigious idea Sora!" Izzy exclaimed. "I bet there's a lot of questions he can answer."
"Who's Gennai?" Koga questioned as she restrung her digitag.
"Gennai's our friend!" TK smiled. Koga stood up, brushing herself off.
"I certainly would like to know what I'm doing here," Koga said.
"Then let's go visit him!" Tai declared.
"But we haven't even had lunch," Agumon complained. His tummy rumbled, and the group laughed again.
"Then let's have lunch," Sora replied, walking back to the campsite.
"Yay!" Mimi cheered. The group began to trickle back to the campsite.
"Are you coming Koga?" TK smiled back at her.
"Yeah, I'll be there in a minute TK," Koga laughed.
"C'mon Matt!" TK ran to the campsite, laughing. Koga turned around to see the blonde haired boy walking up right behind her. He looked up from his walk. The two linked eyes, staring at each other in silence.
"Ummm.."
"Uhh.."
"I'm sorry," both replied, then laughed.
"I was being a jerk," Matt answered.
"No, no you weren't," Koga smiled, inwardly wincing at the awkward moment that was sure to follow. "Koga. Koga Kishi," she extended her hand.
"Yamato- Well, Matt Ishida," Matt took it. They shook hands, staring at each other once more.
"Ummm..." The two quickly put their hands at their sides.
"C'mon, let's get back to camp," Koga smiled, walking away. Matt stared after her, and then followed.
-To Be Continued-