"I still see no sign of that Digidestined," Kayo announced mornfully.
"Jareth is gonna have my head for this."
"Look on the bright side, Kayo," Aeromon piped in, "at least Piedmon isn't around at this point of time."
Kayo sighed. "Being the lackey sure is hard." The two had been walking in the forest for quite a while now, maybe half a day. It was hard to tell, since the sky was continually grey. The boy slumped against a tree and sat down. "Let's take a break. My feet are killing me."
"I've got blisters on my paws," Aeromon complained, collapsing next to his Dark Digidestined. "On top of that, I'm hungry and thirsty, run down by all this walking..."
"I'd kill for a nice pond that I can take a dip in," Kayo sighed, "and nice barbequed steaks over a charcoal grill...coke pop...icy cool coke pop..."
"Mmm..." Aeromon agreed. "I could eat the image! I like catfish and see bass roasted over a campfire, or even raw with wildberries. They taste great! One of these days, if we ever find a river or a pond, I could catch some and you could cook them."
Both of them sighed in absolute bliss.
"Ever eaten eggs with spam?"
"What's spam?"
"A ground meat spiced up nicely and put in a can. You can eat them with bread, with fish, with eggs, with ketchup...it goes well with everything!"
"Multi-purpose meat?" Aeromon began drooling. "I have to get my teeth in that sometime!"
"Speaking of food, do you know of a restaurant nearby? I'm starved!"
"Not really...wait, there's Tyranno's Burger Stand, but that was a while ago. It's on the other side of the Digiworld, across the ocean in Server."
"Server?"
"Yep, that's my hometown. Before Piedmon and his pals did some redecorating and stuff like that, one thing led to another and here I am. If we find a lake, we could camp there for a while."
"Sounds like a good idea." Kayo got to his feet. "Let's go."
The duo set off again into the forest when, coming from the opposite direction, was the girl they had run into earlier on, dashing towards them with her Digimon in towâ€"a green fox, it seemed. She and Kayo didn't notice each other until it was too late and the two collided into each other. Kayo righted himself in time and kept himself from tumbling, but the other Dark Digidestined went sprawling.
"Man, are you okay?" Kayo asked, concerned.
"No thanks to a klutz like you!" Ann spat, making sure her Digimon was all right before getting up. "Geez, can't you do anything right? You're such a stupid idiot!"
"I said I'm sorry!" Kayo said, his voice rising to match Ann's volume.
"I never take apollogies! It's because of you I got into this mess! Now I have to start from the very beginning just to get those pesky Digidestined! What was Piedmon thinking when he hired you?!"
"And what was he thinking when he hired a hothead like you? This is a club for guys, no girls allowed! You're probably going to go, 'Oh, dear, another assignment? But my hair isn't done yet!'"
"Watch what you say, kiddo!"
"Kiddo?" Kayo spluttered. "I'm just as old as you are, you, you...you pathetic excuse for a lackey!"
That did it. The next thing Kayo knew, there was a sharp crack and his head snapped to the left, almost knocking him off balance. He stumbled back, stunned by the sharp sting on his cheek. She'd slapped him. He opened his mouth to retaliate with a snide comment, but none came. All he could think was, [she slapped me. And we're not even hitting on each other!]
"Hmph! Don't mess with me in the future, kiddo!" Ann huffed, then took off into the forest, roughly pushing Kayo aside so that he stumbled back and into a tree. Kayo and Aeromon watched her go, speechless.
"That...was one ugly fight. Do you humans do that all the time? Kayo? Hey, Kayo, snap out of it."
"Great," Kayo mumbled, "lost a fight with my target, shot by Jareth, she's on a rampage. Ahh...life is good."
"Kayo, are you always this cynical?"
"That's my motto." Kayo winced as he rubbed his sore cheek, which was now a bright red. "And to think we're not even intimate and she slaps me!"
"I'd hate to think of what would happen if you two ever got intimate."
"I don't even want to think about it. Let's go before I reflect too much on this incident and hit puberty two years early."
Finally, the duo reached the edge of the dense forest. Aeromon's nose caught a whiff of something familar and welcoming. Eagerly, the wolf cub thrust his snout in the air and inhaled deeply, trying to figure out that familar smell. It smelt like...like...
"Dragon Eye Lake! Woohoo!" Aeromon burst forward, leaving Kayo far behind as he hit the grassy clearing. Sure enough, a large welcoming body of water streached for miles in either direction. Kayo caught up with his Digimon, then surveyed the scene before him.
"Dragon Eye Lake?"
"Yep! The most famous lake in the entire Digital World! This lake is loaded with fishes! And all the cool fresh water you can drink! It's like a paradise!"
"We've hit the jackpot! We'll camp here for the night and fish our dinner. Aeromon, this is great! I'll go get some firewood while you grab some fish. I'll be back before you know it!"
Aeromon watched Kayo rush back to the edge of the forest, then trotted up to the water's edge. Looking down, he could see the shadows of the fish below. Long, serpentine catfish and small digichovies to plump sea bass. The wolf cub's mouth watered at the sight. Crouching low on the land, he watched the fish until he singled out one fat catfish swimming close to the shore. His head darted forward in one fluid motion and snapped up the fish in the blink of an eye, flinging it over his shoulder and onto the grass behind him. Then he darted forward again, and again, and again...
"Whoa, you've hauled in quite a catch today!" Kayo said as he examined the sizable pile on the shore, an equally sizable amount of firewood in his arms. Dropping the pile and arranging some of the wood into a campfire, Kayo reached into his pocket and pulled out his lighter which he had been carrying with him, and soon a steady fire was burning. Aeromon trotted back with the last fish in his mouth to lie down by the fire, snarfing up the fish raw.
"You couldn't wait for me to cook it, could you?"
"Just having an appitizer." Aeromon smacked his lips in satisfaction. "Talk about good food."
Kayo took one of the fish and put it on a rock, de-scaling it before placing it on a stick to roast over the fire. The smell of cooking fish tugged at his nostrils and his mouth watered. Aeromon grabbed another raw fish from the pile and watched the fire lick at the fish Kayo was cooking while absently nibbling away at his appitizer. The smoke from the fire curled into the sky, creating all sorts of smoky images that faded as they spiralled away into the sky.
"I wonder what your next Digivolution would look like," Kayo said, lying back in satisfaction, a pile of fish heads and bones replacing the pile of fish that had been there before. The boy belched before he continued. "I mean, I've seen Lupidramon and what he can do, but Piedmon said you could Digivolve further with the help of this crest." Kayo absently dangled the pendant in front of him, a sinister logo of a fanged face or a samurai helmet, depending on how you looked at it. "How am I supposed to know how to use it?"
"I don't really know, but the Digidestined's crest began to glow before Gabumon Digivolved to Ultimate and Mega. So there must be a link. You have to trigger the powers of the crest before I can Digivolve further."
"Yeah, but...how?"
That silenced Aeromon effectively, and the wolf cub could only shrug in reply. Then, suddenly, Aeromon lept to his feet, growling.
"Um...Aeromon?"
"Behind you." The wolf cub growled. Kayo glanced behind him and groaned.
"Hi, Jareth. Uh..."Kayo grabbed the remaining fish they were grilling, "staying for dinner?"
"Look on the bright side, Kayo," Aeromon piped in, "at least Piedmon isn't around at this point of time."
Kayo sighed. "Being the lackey sure is hard." The two had been walking in the forest for quite a while now, maybe half a day. It was hard to tell, since the sky was continually grey. The boy slumped against a tree and sat down. "Let's take a break. My feet are killing me."
"I've got blisters on my paws," Aeromon complained, collapsing next to his Dark Digidestined. "On top of that, I'm hungry and thirsty, run down by all this walking..."
"I'd kill for a nice pond that I can take a dip in," Kayo sighed, "and nice barbequed steaks over a charcoal grill...coke pop...icy cool coke pop..."
"Mmm..." Aeromon agreed. "I could eat the image! I like catfish and see bass roasted over a campfire, or even raw with wildberries. They taste great! One of these days, if we ever find a river or a pond, I could catch some and you could cook them."
Both of them sighed in absolute bliss.
"Ever eaten eggs with spam?"
"What's spam?"
"A ground meat spiced up nicely and put in a can. You can eat them with bread, with fish, with eggs, with ketchup...it goes well with everything!"
"Multi-purpose meat?" Aeromon began drooling. "I have to get my teeth in that sometime!"
"Speaking of food, do you know of a restaurant nearby? I'm starved!"
"Not really...wait, there's Tyranno's Burger Stand, but that was a while ago. It's on the other side of the Digiworld, across the ocean in Server."
"Server?"
"Yep, that's my hometown. Before Piedmon and his pals did some redecorating and stuff like that, one thing led to another and here I am. If we find a lake, we could camp there for a while."
"Sounds like a good idea." Kayo got to his feet. "Let's go."
The duo set off again into the forest when, coming from the opposite direction, was the girl they had run into earlier on, dashing towards them with her Digimon in towâ€"a green fox, it seemed. She and Kayo didn't notice each other until it was too late and the two collided into each other. Kayo righted himself in time and kept himself from tumbling, but the other Dark Digidestined went sprawling.
"Man, are you okay?" Kayo asked, concerned.
"No thanks to a klutz like you!" Ann spat, making sure her Digimon was all right before getting up. "Geez, can't you do anything right? You're such a stupid idiot!"
"I said I'm sorry!" Kayo said, his voice rising to match Ann's volume.
"I never take apollogies! It's because of you I got into this mess! Now I have to start from the very beginning just to get those pesky Digidestined! What was Piedmon thinking when he hired you?!"
"And what was he thinking when he hired a hothead like you? This is a club for guys, no girls allowed! You're probably going to go, 'Oh, dear, another assignment? But my hair isn't done yet!'"
"Watch what you say, kiddo!"
"Kiddo?" Kayo spluttered. "I'm just as old as you are, you, you...you pathetic excuse for a lackey!"
That did it. The next thing Kayo knew, there was a sharp crack and his head snapped to the left, almost knocking him off balance. He stumbled back, stunned by the sharp sting on his cheek. She'd slapped him. He opened his mouth to retaliate with a snide comment, but none came. All he could think was, [she slapped me. And we're not even hitting on each other!]
"Hmph! Don't mess with me in the future, kiddo!" Ann huffed, then took off into the forest, roughly pushing Kayo aside so that he stumbled back and into a tree. Kayo and Aeromon watched her go, speechless.
"That...was one ugly fight. Do you humans do that all the time? Kayo? Hey, Kayo, snap out of it."
"Great," Kayo mumbled, "lost a fight with my target, shot by Jareth, she's on a rampage. Ahh...life is good."
"Kayo, are you always this cynical?"
"That's my motto." Kayo winced as he rubbed his sore cheek, which was now a bright red. "And to think we're not even intimate and she slaps me!"
"I'd hate to think of what would happen if you two ever got intimate."
"I don't even want to think about it. Let's go before I reflect too much on this incident and hit puberty two years early."
Finally, the duo reached the edge of the dense forest. Aeromon's nose caught a whiff of something familar and welcoming. Eagerly, the wolf cub thrust his snout in the air and inhaled deeply, trying to figure out that familar smell. It smelt like...like...
"Dragon Eye Lake! Woohoo!" Aeromon burst forward, leaving Kayo far behind as he hit the grassy clearing. Sure enough, a large welcoming body of water streached for miles in either direction. Kayo caught up with his Digimon, then surveyed the scene before him.
"Dragon Eye Lake?"
"Yep! The most famous lake in the entire Digital World! This lake is loaded with fishes! And all the cool fresh water you can drink! It's like a paradise!"
"We've hit the jackpot! We'll camp here for the night and fish our dinner. Aeromon, this is great! I'll go get some firewood while you grab some fish. I'll be back before you know it!"
Aeromon watched Kayo rush back to the edge of the forest, then trotted up to the water's edge. Looking down, he could see the shadows of the fish below. Long, serpentine catfish and small digichovies to plump sea bass. The wolf cub's mouth watered at the sight. Crouching low on the land, he watched the fish until he singled out one fat catfish swimming close to the shore. His head darted forward in one fluid motion and snapped up the fish in the blink of an eye, flinging it over his shoulder and onto the grass behind him. Then he darted forward again, and again, and again...
"Whoa, you've hauled in quite a catch today!" Kayo said as he examined the sizable pile on the shore, an equally sizable amount of firewood in his arms. Dropping the pile and arranging some of the wood into a campfire, Kayo reached into his pocket and pulled out his lighter which he had been carrying with him, and soon a steady fire was burning. Aeromon trotted back with the last fish in his mouth to lie down by the fire, snarfing up the fish raw.
"You couldn't wait for me to cook it, could you?"
"Just having an appitizer." Aeromon smacked his lips in satisfaction. "Talk about good food."
Kayo took one of the fish and put it on a rock, de-scaling it before placing it on a stick to roast over the fire. The smell of cooking fish tugged at his nostrils and his mouth watered. Aeromon grabbed another raw fish from the pile and watched the fire lick at the fish Kayo was cooking while absently nibbling away at his appitizer. The smoke from the fire curled into the sky, creating all sorts of smoky images that faded as they spiralled away into the sky.
"I wonder what your next Digivolution would look like," Kayo said, lying back in satisfaction, a pile of fish heads and bones replacing the pile of fish that had been there before. The boy belched before he continued. "I mean, I've seen Lupidramon and what he can do, but Piedmon said you could Digivolve further with the help of this crest." Kayo absently dangled the pendant in front of him, a sinister logo of a fanged face or a samurai helmet, depending on how you looked at it. "How am I supposed to know how to use it?"
"I don't really know, but the Digidestined's crest began to glow before Gabumon Digivolved to Ultimate and Mega. So there must be a link. You have to trigger the powers of the crest before I can Digivolve further."
"Yeah, but...how?"
That silenced Aeromon effectively, and the wolf cub could only shrug in reply. Then, suddenly, Aeromon lept to his feet, growling.
"Um...Aeromon?"
"Behind you." The wolf cub growled. Kayo glanced behind him and groaned.
"Hi, Jareth. Uh..."Kayo grabbed the remaining fish they were grilling, "staying for dinner?"