Digimon {Digital Monsters}
The Darkness before the Dawn of Wisdom
Moving On

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, Toei animation does

Author's Note: It's going great so far, please keep reading and reviewing. There's not been much humour in this story so far so I thought I'd lighten the mood before I made it even darker than the last time... bwah ha ha... the joys of being the author. ;0)

Ken waved a hand in front of Izzy's face,

"Earth to Izzy, come in." he called. Izzy blinked for a moment before he realised that Ken had been trying to regain his attention for the last five minutes. He quickly shook his head,

"Sorry about that Ken, I must've spaced out again." He apologised, "Now that's something I haven't done in ages." He added thoughtfully. Tentomon snickered,

"Yeah the last time he did that was when File Island split up. I swear Mimi almost hit him with his laptop when he rescued Mimi and myself from Centauramon and then went back to those hieroglyphs." Gomamon gladly joined in the conversation, to get away from Joe; who was beginning to sniff and sneeze and complain about his allergies flaring up again.

"So that's what happened." He exclaimed, I thought Mimi was just mad 'cause Izzy was just... there." He chuckled. "Or that Izzy didn't see her absolutely 'charming personality' shine through." Gomamon directed this last comment towards Joe, who was drinking a glass of water. He spluttered at that last comment and turned a deep shade of red Gomamon rolled about on the floor giggling, while Izzy smirked a little. The other guys were making fun of the poor guy while the girls that were there just began giggling girlishly. Ken and Cody just raised their eyebrows. Cody because he thought the older kids were being childish, while Ken just didn't get the joke.

"I'll get you for that you little..." Joe chased Gomamon out of the door in embarrassment. While the laughter died down, Izzy sneaked out of the little hut.

He passed by several other huts, with happy and content Bukamon inside, chatting away merrily. Izzy sighed heavily and walked to the outskirts of the village. The river ran next to the village's outer perimeter, weeping willow like trees lined the banks on both sides, with a gap leading into the village for easy access. The sunlight from above filtered down to the ground below, only the centre of the river receiving the benefit of full sunshine, while the edges were bathed in a translucent green. Izzy sat on the riverbank, his head hanging,

"I wonder where I fit into all this." He wondered, "Everyone seems so sure about what to do and how we should do it but me." His fingers lightly skimmed the surface of the river, welcoming the refreshing coolness. What looked like a dragonfly flitted out onto the river's surface, the light catching it's bluish green hue for a moment, before it was snapped up by a fish leaping out of the water. Izzy fought back fresh tears as his hand ran over the cold metal of the brass Tag, inside of which the now lifeless Crest of Knowledge resided.

"Knowledge... yeah right! I don't even know who I am anymore, let alone anything else." He thought, remembering the day it had first helped Kabuterimon to digivolve into Megakabuterimon. He had given up his curiosity to Vademon so that he and Tentomon wouldn't keep falling into that pit that had appeared out of nowhere. It was through Izzy's selfishness that had caused Tentomon to de-digivolve into Pabumon, his baby stage. Izzy still hadn't forgiven himself for that, even though Tentomon had forgiven him a long time ago. His shoulders slumped as he leaned over to pick up a single, flat stone. Izzy held it in his hand for a moment before flicking it across the water's surface.

"... 3, 4, 5, 6! Hey you're pretty good, but I want to see you try to beat my record." Came a soft sing song voice from right behind him. Izzy turned to see Gatomon and Kari walk towards the river and sit next to him.

"I honestly don't know what it is with you humans and your fascination with water... you're not from underwater you know." Gatomon purred as she gazed at the ripples that Izzy's toss had created. Izzy gave a small, unnoticeable sigh before he turned to the two females smiling,

"Well, you might not be interested in this... but... there is a theory about humans evolving from the same ancestor as whales and dolphins, but we stayed on land." He explained, "It may explain a few thing." He added. Kari laughed lightly, her brown eyes sparkling with happiness and contentment.

"You never answered my question." She pouted playfully. Izzy felt a slight blush creep up his cheeks as he realised he hadn't.

"Oh yeah, sorry." He apologised, rubbing the back of his neck. "To answer it though, what is your record?" he asked quizzically.

"Don't let her realise the truth." His brain urged, as Izzy fought to keep up his little charade until Kari went away again. Kari shrugged,

"It's only a total of ten skips in a row." She answered in a slightly tired voice. Izzy raised an eyebrow,

"Really, you managed ten? Are you actually telling me the truth here Kari?" he asked accusingly, a smirk playing on his face, a genuine smirk at that.

"Yep." Kari boasted, "Go ahead, ask Tai if you want. He'll definitely let you know that I'm not lying... Besides, I don't think he's like it too much if he found out you were accusing me of lying." Izzy blinked a few times.

"You're right about that, it's probably better to let you have the benefit of the doubt... I don't exactly have a death wish here." He laughed outwardly, but in his mind he grimaced.

"Not now!" he thought firmly. "I only need to keep this up for a while anyway... so don't even think it... concentrate on fooling the others into believing you're fine."

"Of course you don't Izzy... now are you going to take up that challenge or what?" Kari asked impatiently. Izzy grinned as he picked up a suitable stone and began flicking it across the river.

In the 'Dark Ocean' Daemon and Dragomon waited patiently for the portal between the world they were trapped in and the digital world to open.

"Maybe we should enjoy some entertainment while we wait." Daemon suggested.

"What do you have in mind?" Dragomon hissed menacingly. Daemon smirked,

"How about a little battle between Gatomon and Metalcyclonemon?"

"Summon him then you fool, I'm getting bored."

"All right already." Daemon closed his eyes for a moment, envisioning Metalcyclonemon and Gatomon locked in a deadly battle. In the digital world, there was a dark movement beneath the river's surface...

To be continued.

What do you lot think about that idea then? Please read and review, the next chapter will be coming to a computer near you {sorry was at the pictures at the wekend}.