Author's Note: As of yet, I've been unable to turn up a canon evolution for the character in question. (Silly, do you think I'm going to tell you who evolves in this chapter? Figure it out for yourself!) Suffice to say I searched, I did not find, so I made my own. This is my original critter; please don't take it from me without my permission. If there is a canon evolution for said character and I don't know about it, I'd appreciate it if you'd tell me. (A picture of the card would be nice.) That is all.
For the moment, everything seemed to be going more or less exactly the way Junpei would have chosen for them to have gone. He was, at present, stretched out in the soft grass that grew alongside a small stream, which trickled and splashed musically over a succession of rounded mountain stones. There was a brilliant afternoon sun overhead, bathing the area in golden warmth, and there was a row of willow trees along the stream if shade was what was wanted. Neither he nor his friends seemed to be in any immediate danger, and there were no disputes or arguments going on. The group had opted to stop here for lunch, and even now the midday meal was being assembled, so in a few minutes he would be well-fed again. In short, there was nothing going on that would account for his vague sense of unease.
To distract himself, he cast his eyes in the direction of the stream, where Izumi was wading and splashing as she gathered armfuls of plants. The stream had proven to be filled with a number of thick- leafed, spicy-tasting greens which Bokomon had asserted were nutritious, if not very filling, and the group was taking advantage of their presence to enliven their dull traveling food. The foodstuffs that the castle had provided them with was filling and sustaining, but not particularly tasty, and the greens would greatly improve their flavor. Already their stock of edibles was starting to run a bit low, and the group was thankful for anything they could find along the way. Thankfully, it was approaching autumn in this part of the Digital World, and several types of nuts and fruits would be ripe by the time they got to them. They might not get a home-cooked meal every night, but they were unlikely to starve, either.
In the meantime, Izumi gathered greens for their lunch, and since there was nothing else of interest to do, Junpei passed the idle time by watching her out of the corner of his eye. Even after a few years of solid friendship, she still dazzled his senses like sunlight on water, and he never got tired of spending time with her. She could be as changeable as the weather - proud and independent, capricious and playful, aloof as a cat and sometimes just as mysterious... and sometimes warm and gentle and even vulnerable. The one thing that was consistent was that she was never boring, and he doubted he'd ever get over her any more than he'd get over needing air to breathe.
Meanwhile, the rest of the group was entertaining themselves in other ways. Takuya and Tomoki were in the process of getting some kind of lunch together. The village they'd passed through the day before had gifted them with a package of dried and smoked fish to round out their supplies, but the meat was hard as a rock and completely inedible if it wasn't soaked or boiled a while first. Boiling was impossible without a cooking pot, but the stream was clean enough, and they were in no mood to be finicky.
Nearby, on a swath of relatively smooth grass, Kouji and Kouichi were practicing staff-fighting. It was something they often did at home as a game, but in this world, it had a more serious feel. Everyone knew that they'd have to defend themselves somehow, if they met with an enemy, and they weren't ready to put their full trust in Takuya's chancy new way of evolving. Instead, the twins practiced weapons combat. Both of them held wooden staffs - not the Staff of Order; it stood propped against a tree like a disapproving spectator, if a carved length of wood could look disapproving. Kouji had been carrying it everywhere ever since he got it, even sleeping next to it at night, and he could sometimes be heard muttering to it as he walked, but he seemed reluctant to try using it as a weapon again. Instead, he had found a stand of bamboo-like plants and broken two stalks to comfortable lengths. Now the two boys struck and dodged, and laughed each time one of them landed a particularly well-placed blow.
Gradually, the noise of the mock-battle caught Junpei's attention, and he spared a glance in their direction. He had to admit, they were worth watching. Both of them moved with a grace that was almost weightless, more as if they were dancing than fighting. Each move they made was clean and fluid and perfectly placed. There was nothing slipshod or clumsy about anything they did.
Junpei stifled a sigh. As much as he cared for the two of them, he might have been their brother himself, but he couldn't deny that he envied them just a tiny bit. Going to the Digital World had done wonders for his self-esteem, it was true, but when it all came down, it would just be nice to be handsome and graceful and athletic. He wasn't exactly ugly, he thought, but he knew he was hardly the kind to turn people's heads. Kouji and Kouichi were. He didn't go to their school, but he overheard their talk, and he'd heard enough to know there were plenty of girls who pursued them, and there would probably be more when they reached their full teenaged growth. People liked Junpei and were willing to spend time with him, but they'd never admire him in quite that same way...
On the other hand, he reminded himself, there was only one girl's opinion who really counted to him. Come to think of it, she wasn't among those who sighed after the twins. She treated them exactly the same way she treated Takuya or Tomoki or any of her other male friends. He couldn't think of anyone, really, that she did seem interesting. That was moderately encouraging - at least he wasn't out of the running quite yet.
"It's going to rain again," he said abruptly, finally finding words to express what had been bothering him all this time.
"What, again?" asked Takuya.
Izumi walked up and offered the bundle of plants she'd been gathering, and then stared at the sky.
"He's right," she said. "We're in for another storm. A big one."
"Worse than last time?" asked Kouichi, a bit anxiously. The distraction cost him, and he wound up having his foot swept out from under him by a swing of his brother's staff.
"Sorry!" Kouji said. "I thought you were going to dodge."
Tomoki looked up at the sky. It was clear blue, with only a few clouds just barely visible in the distance. The sun beamed innocently down on him.
"It doesn't look like it's going to rain," he said.
"It's not going to rain soon," said Junpei. "At least, I don't think it is. It's still a few hours away. It'll probably hit around nightfall... don't you think?" he added, with an inquisitive glance at Izumi.
"I think you're right," she said. "The wind isn't very strong, yet. Is all this rain natural, Bokomon?"
Bokomon, who had been idly leafing through his book (Neemon was amusing himself by looking at the pictures), spared a glance in their direction.
"I'm afraid so," he answered. "Storms are fairly common this time of year. We'll probably be hit with a few more of them before the weather settles down."
"Great," said Takuya. "Wish I'd packed a raincoat. Or an umbrella."
"Too bad that's not one of those Artifacts we're looking for, hm?" said Kouichi.
Tomoki laughed. "A magic umbrella! That's funny! I wonder what it would do?"
"If it's anything like the other Artifacts we've seen so far, it would cause trouble," said Kouji sourly, glancing at the Staff of Order.
"Oh, I don't know," said Izumi, fingering the chain of the Star of Guidance. "This one seems nice enough. It's just the corrupted ones that are dangerous. And how would you corrupt an umbrella?"
The conversation ambled off into a discussion of the possible properties of a magic umbrella, and how they might be misused. Kouichi listened for a while, shook his head in vague amazement at the whole thing, and wandered off on his own again.
He saw something red out of the corner of his eye. Glancing up, he saw nothing, but he was sure that just for a minute, he had seen something moving out there in the shadows. He was also beginning to have a sneaky feeling that no one else in the group would have been able to see what he'd seen.
"What's gotten you so thoughtful all of a sudden?" asked Kouji, who had a lower tolerance for nonsense than his brother did, and had gotten bored several minutes ago.
"That Witchmon character is still following us," his brother replied.
"Are you sure?" asked Kouji, staring very hard into the trees.
"I'm as sure as Izumi and Junpei are sure it's going to rain," Kouichi replied.
"Hm," said Kouji. He wasn't entirely sure he approved of this strange way of knowing things. Still, it was starting to become apparent that it had its uses. "Well, there's no point in worrying about it now, is there?"
"I guess not," Kouichi agreed. "She probably isn't finding out a lot just from watching us eat lunch."
"And no way of getting rid of her," Kouji agreed. He made a face. "I get the feeling we've picked up a mascot, whether we want her or not."
"I guess so," Kouichi agreed.
"Hey, you two!" said Izumi. "Are you going to eat lunch, or what?"
"We're coming, we're coming," said Kouji. He tossed his bamboo staff aside and picked up the Staff of Order. It seemed to vibrate slightly in his hand, and then settle down. Kouji nodded, apparently pleased by its compliancy, and went to eat.
For a while, they ate in silence, as befitted people who had been walking all morning and were preparing to walk all afternoon over rough terrain. As they moved further and further from the lake, the area became more hilly and densely forested, and there were no trails in the direction they needed to go, forcing them to cut their own path through the brush. What had once been visible only as bluish lumps against the sky, indistinguishable from distant clouds, now became clearly visible as mountains. Bokomon had told them that they marked the border between the Continent of Light and its adjoining continents.
"It's all a matter of where we want to go, really," said Bokomon. He had set out his book and flipped it to a page showing a map of the Digital World - crude, but serviceable for their purpose. "If we veer a little more northward, we'll find ourselves in the Continent of Metal. Southwards would lead us to the Continent of Earth. If we want to reach the Continent of Metal, we'll have to make our way along the edges of the mountains to a river crossing somewhere over there." He gestured vaguely.
"Is that where the Temple of the Fallen Moon is?" asked Takuya.
"Well, no... but it is a very interesting and historical place, and you hardly got to see it properly last time you were there, so..."
"So we'll go there after we see the Temple," Takuya said.
"Oh, all right," said Bokomon. "If we're going to the Continent of Earth, we'll have to cross over these mountains and pick our way through a perilous rocky gap amid the snow-covered peaks. There. Are you happy now?"
"I'm beginning to wish I'd packed some boots," said Izumi, looking at her feet. She was wearing a pair of white and purple sneakers - stylish and comfortable, but hardly designed for mountain treks. "Isn't there an easier way?"
"Yes, if we want to go about fifty miles out of our way," said Bokomon.
"Well, we'll just have to take the shortcut," said Takuya. "Everyone brought their jackets, I hope?"
"I've got mine," said Junpei, "in case anyone wants to borrow it." He shot Izumi a significant look, and she cuffed his shoulder, but it was only a perfunctory swipe. She had long ago realized that she'd have better luck trying to convince a tree not to grow towards the sun than to convince him to stop chasing her.
"Excuse me a minute," said Kouichi. "Nature calls."
"Okay, but don't stray off too far," said Kouji.
Kouichi nodded and began walking off to the privacy of the nearby trees. He'd been hit by a sudden impulse to leave, but it had nothing to do with calls of nature. It had suddenly occurred to him that they were discussing their plans in a certain amount of detail, and that he also knew (or was fairly sure he knew) that there was an unfriendly pair of eyes watching them all. He had a notion it might be a good idea to provide a distraction of some sort, just in case. It was true, too, that he was feeling the lure of curiosity.
"It's no good hiding from me," he said to the empty forest. "I know you're out there, so why don't you just show yourself and be done with it?"
There was an empty silence. Kouichi counted off thirty seconds, and then thirty more.
"Fine, then," he said. "Be that way." He shrugged and prepared to walk off.
"I can't show myself," said a voice. It was feminine and vaguely familiar. Kouichi stared in the direction it had come from - somewhere over his head.
"Why not?" he asked curiously.
"Because," she answered, "I'm stuck in a tree, and I can't get down."
"Oh," he said.
"Don't say it," she said. "I know I'm hopeless."
"I wasn't going to say that," he answered. "I don't know the first thing about flying a broom. It's not my place to criticize how well you do it."
"You don't mean that. You think I'm a klutz, just like everyone else."
"Fine, be that way," said Kouichi. "Anyway... do you need some help? Where are you?"
"Over here."
Kouichi followed her voice to a particularly large and twisted pine tree. It was very tall, but fortunately, it had lots of rough bark and jutting dead branches that would make it easy to climb. Looking up to its top, Kouichi could see a broom balanced precariously many yards above his head, and above that was Witchmon, her hair and gown hopelessly tangled in the tree branches. A cat clung to her shoulder, glaring suspiciously down at him with an expression uncannily like Witchmon's.
"You look stuck, all right," he said. "Don't worry, I'll help you. Don't move."
"Where am I going to go?" she asked.
Kouichi ignored this question and started to climb. Within short order, he'd reached the broom and was able to retrieve it. Then he scrambled up to where Witchmon was and assessed her situation. She truly had gotten herself into a royal tangle, and it was evident that she'd been struggling to free herself, thereby making things even worse for herself than they already were.
"This could take a while," said Kouichi. "Just try to sit still." His deft fingers went to work untwisting her clothing from the clinging grip of the tree.
"I can't move at all," she complained. She continued regarding him mistrustfully. "Why are you helping me, anyway?"
He shrugged, trying to unhook one of her many leather straps from a branch. "Well, you helped us all out the other night. Maybe I want to return the favor."
"Oh," she said. Her expression softened a fraction. "I didn't think you would."
"I aim to be honorable," he answered. "So. I don't think we've been properly introduced. My name's Kouichi. You are?"
"Witchmon," she said. "And this is Cat."
"Nice to meet you," he said. "How have you been? I didn't see much of you yesterday."
"I was busy," she said. "I'm spying on you."
"I noticed. Could you move a little to the right, please? No, my right. That's it." He began untangling a lock of her hair from a clump of twigs. "Spying can't be very much fun. I've done it before, and it gets pretty tedious. So, what do you do when you're not working?"
"Oh, well, not much," answered Witchmon. "Study, mostly. I'm learning to be a sorceress?."
"Are you? Sounds exciting."
"It's not, really. Well, sometimes it is. Mostly I'm not very good at it, but I try really, really hard. Lilithmon and my brother teach me. They do their best. It's not their fault I'm not a very good student."
"I didn't know you have a brother. Is he nice?"
"He's good to me. He helps me when I'm in trouble," said Witchmon. "He has to scold me a lot because I make so many mistakes, but he only does it so I'll be a better sorceress. He was the one who gave me to Lilithmon, so she could teach me. I'm very grateful to him. He's the only Digimon in the world who really loves me." She said this defiantly, raising her chin and glaring at him, as if he'd made an accusation.
"I see," he answered softly.
"Why are you asking all these questions, anyway?" she demanded. "I'm supposed to be spying on you, not the other way around."
"I'm not spying," he said. "I'm just being friendly."
"Well, I don't like it," she said. "You shouldn't be so nosey."
"Sorry. I wasn't trying to offend you," he said. "Anyway, you're all free now, so you can leave, if you want."
"Hm?" She looked around, and seemed surprised to realize that she was no longer stuck.
"Here's your broom back," he said, handing it to her.
"Fine," she said. "Now we're even, and I'm not going to do any more favors for you! .... Wait, you were the one who owed me a favor. I think. Oh, well, it doesn't matter. Just go away and leave me alone!"
She jumped on her broom, dropped several feet with a squeal, and then took off and flew unsteadily away. Kouichi gave a half-shrug and began scrambling down the tree. He walked briskly back in the direction of the campsite.
"Hey, man, where have you been?" asked Takuya. "We were starting to wonder about you. You were gone a long time."
"I ran into our friend Witchmon, and we had a little talk," Kouichi replied.
"You talked to Witchmon?" asked Junpei. "I thought she was one of the badguys."
"She seems to think so, too," Kouichi replied. "She reminds me, just a little, of someone I used to know."
"Be careful," said Kouji. "Don't go identifying her with yourself. It's a totally different case, and you know it."
"Yes, you're right," Kouichi answered quietly. "Don't worry, Kouji. I won't forget."
"Come on, gang," said Takuya. "It's time to make some tracks."
They poured water over their campfire until they were sure there wasn't so much as a spark left, and then began picking their way ever closer to the mountains. Takuya strode bravely along in front, but Kouichi brought up a silent rear guard, thinking quietly about his brief conversation with Witchmon. In particular, he was intrigued by her words about her brother - the one who loved her and looked after her. He thought of how defiant she sounded, and wondered just who she was trying to convince.
Safe on the ground once more, and feeling very reluctant to leave it, Witchmon huddled in the bushes and tried to get herself in order. Her encounter with the human boy Kouichi had left her somewhat befuddled, and she was having a difficult time getting her wits together. Just why would he want to be so nice to her? Didn't he know she was his enemy? She shook her head. She knew very little of Digimon nature, and less of human nature - in fact, the only other people besides herself she knew were her brother and her mistress. It was impossible for her to guess what the boy's motivations had been.
*I'll ask Wisemon. He'll know.*
She took off her hat and reached into it, withdrawing a topaz-colored crystal about the size of a baseball. It was polished into a perfectly smooth sphere and was so clear it would have been nearly invisible save for its color and a sheen of reflected light. She cupped it in both her hands and breathed on it, briefly clouding its surface with a mist of vapor. When it cleared, she could see Wisemon's face, or at least his glowing eyes, looking back at her, as if he were standing over her shoulder and being reflected in the crystal's shiny surface.
"It's about time," he said. "Have you anything to report?"
"Yes," she said. "The human children are going to attempt to go through the Waterstone Pass in the south. They say they're headed for the Temple of the Fallen Moon on the Continent of Earth."
"Why in blazes would they want to go there?" asked Wisemon. "They must be even more foolish than they look. Even our kind don't go there."
"Well, that's where they said they were going," Witchmon answered. "I know what I heard, and that was it."
"Interesting. Well, they must have their reasons," he said doubtfully. "Still, if that's where they want to go, then that's all the reason we need to stop them from going there... and the Waterstone Pass is not a bad place to do it. I will have to try to find something more effective than that FlaWizarmon... unfortunately there are not but so many useful monsters in my lady's collection. I will think about the problem and get back to you."
She saw him raise a hand to close off the connection, and she said, "Wait! I'm not done yet!"
"Oh? What is it now? Don't tell me you made another mistake."
"Well, not exactly..."
Wisemon's eyes narrowed. "How do you not exactly make a mistake? Either you do or you don't."
"Well, it was kind of more like a difficulty," she said. "Er... an unexpected... something-or- other. Event? Incident?"
"Spit it out already."
"All right," said Witchmon. "I was flying, see, and you know I'm not very good at flying, and I always crash or fall off or get all tangled up..."
"Witchmon."
"Um. Well... I did fall off, and I got tangled up and stuck in the tree and I couldn't get out."
"And you felt you needed to tell me that?"
"I'm still not done yet," she said.
"Well, get to the point. I don't have all day."
"Okay. I was stuck in the tree, and I couldn't get down, and one of the children came looking for me. And I couldn't get away, see, because I was stuck. And he heard me and he climbed up in the tree with me."
Wisemon was watching her very intently. "I don't like the way this is going. Don't tell me he...?"
"He was very nice to me," Witchmon hastened to assure him. "He untangled me and let me down and found my broom for me and everything. He talked to me."
"Yes," Wisemon hissed. "I was afraid it might be something like that."
Witchmon blinked. "Was that bad?"
"Listen to me, Witchmon. You mustn't let these children talk to you again. You mustn't let them see you if at all possible. You have already spent too much time with them already. Any more could be dangerous."
"But they seem so nice..."
"That is the danger, Witchmon. They are not fools, Witchmon, and they are not nearly so naive as you are. Give them a chance, and they will begin to poison your mind."
"Poison?" Witchmon exclaimed.
Wisemon sighed. "It is an expression. Listen. The more time you spend in each other's company, the more familiar you will become to them, and they to you. You may find yourself beginning to like them. You may even regard them as your friends. That is what they will try to do - to make you their friend. Once they've done that, they will have power over you, and you will not be able to complete your mission, because you will be unable to bring yourselves to hurt them. Once they do that, you will be useless to Lilithmon, do you understand me? Lilithmon does not keep things that are useless."
Witchmon thought of what Lilithmon did to creatures that were useless to her. When Withchmon had been very young, only a Baby II stage, Lilithmon had had a servant who had grown rebellious and had started shirking his work. He had screamed for the better part of an afternoon once Lilithmon had started dealing with him. Worse were the hours that came after, when he had thrashed around most of the night with his voice too broken to cry out anymore. It had been three days before he'd finally died. Witchmon shivered.
"I'll be very careful, Wisemon," she said.
"Good. I am glad we've come to this understanding. Now, here is what I want you to do. Tail the children as closely as you can without being seen. As soon as they are within a mile of the Waterstone Pass, tap your crystal three times with your left hand. That will send a signal to me, and I will take over from there. Is that understood?"
"Mile of Waterstone Pass, tap crystal three times with left hand," Witchmon recited automatically. If nothing else, she was good at remembering what she'd been told, so long as she didn't have to remember it under extreme pressure.
"Good. I will be waiting for the signal," said Wisemon. "Let me know also if they decide to change course. Be careful, and whatever you do, don't talk to anyone again!"
The last she saw of him was an image of his clawed hand coming down over his own sphere, and then she was just holding a pretty and innocent bubble of glass. She put it back in her hat and put the had back on her head.
"Waterstone Pass," she said. "That sounds wet... and they said it was going to rain tonight, too. Crumbs," she muttered. "I hate getting wet."
Well, there was no help for it. She took off and rose slowly into the sky, setting out in the direction of the Waterstone Pass.
She thought it might help if she actually knew where it was.
Rainclouds were gathering overhead as the group neared the beginning of the mountain range. Already the hills were growing steeper and taller, and here and there rocks jutted outward. The traveling party had to choose their way with care; what looked like an innocent incline might end in a sudden steep drop-off high enough to twist an ankle or break a bone, should someone take an unwary step off the edge. Bokomon, with his ever-reliable book, was elected to seek a path for them, and while his rough map was able to guide them in more-or-less the right direction, the going was still slow.
"Should we be thinking about stopping for a while?" asked Takuya, glaring up at the sky. The clouds were thick, with an ominous blue-gray color to them that seemed to promise a great deal of cold water dumped on anyone foolish enough to stand under them for too long. Now and then thunder could be heard growling from far away.
"Wouldn't do much good," said Junpei gloomily. "This rain's going to stay here for a while. We'd lose a day of travel."
"And be sitting ducks for whatever comes after us next," said Kouji, equally grim.
"Very wet ducks," said Izumi.
"Very wet," Bokomon agreed. "I don't know where we'll find shelter between here and the pass. Beyond that, we might find a cave or an overhang, but..."
"For now, we're going to get wet," Kouichi summed up.
"I could use a bath," said Neemon.
Bokomon shook his head, but all he said was, "I hate being caught in the rain. It makes the pages of my book stick together, and it takes ages for it to dry out properly."
"Seems to me," said Takuya, "the best thing to do would be to get to that pass in as much of a hurry as we can. After all, if the only shelter is on the other side, that's where we want to be."
Everyone agreed that this was a good plan, and they picked up their pace. From time to time, a cold raindrop would fall down from the heavy clouds and splatter on someone's head or neck or nose, causing an outcry from whoever the unlucky recipient was. After a while, though, these became too common to notice, though it was not so much raining yet as dripping with great frequency. They trudged up an increasingly muddy hill, and Bokomon called a halt to point off in the distance. The group could see that they were heading for a gap between two particularly prominent mountains; a deep divide seemed to have been carved or blasted between them, an unnaturally straight-sided gap between two rougher surfaces.
"That's where we're aiming," he said. "The path between the mountains begins there. We'll be safer there than anywhere else in the area."
"How about dryer?" said Kouji, but quietly.
They headed downhill again, slipping and sliding on the damp grass. Neemon gave up trying to walk and simply threw himself forward in a belly-flop, gliding gracefully down the hill.
"Whee! This is fun!" he cheered.
"How undignified," Bokomon muttered. "You wouldn't catch me doing something liiiii-!"
His foot suddenly caught on a hidden rock, and he tripped and began rolling rapidly down the hill. He quickly outstripped his companion and continued rolling, right up until he reached the bottom and landed upside-down against the trunk of a tree.
"That looked like fun!" said Neemon. "I wish I could turn somersaults like that!"
"I think you are," Bokomon replied, watching woozily as his vision spun.
"Come on, guy. Upsidaisy!" said Takuya, grabbing Bokomon and hauling him to his feet. "You can't sit down there all day. You'll get even wetter than you are already."
"To do that, I would have to go back and jump in the lake," answered Bokomon grumpily, but he began tottering off again in more or less the right direction, if not in a perfectly straight line.
Gradually, a change came over the hilly land: it stopped being quite so up-and-down, and began progressing at a steady upward angle. The rain was falling faster now, and the ground had become muddy and slick, making the wandering humans feel they were sliding back a pace for every two they took forward. They were probably not far off the mark.
Meanwhile, a few hilltops away, a dark presence quietly appeared where it had not been before. A few Prairiemon who had been grazing the grassy hillside suddenly saw the advantage of looking for shelter from the rain, and vanished in a flurry of fur and hopping feet. Wisemon watched them go with his mouth twisted into a sneer, invisible beneath his hood but almost palpable in its malice.
"Get out of here, you four-legged vermin," he snarled at their retreating forms.
Wisemon became aware of the pattering of raindrops on his back, and he sighed tiredly. Things like this made him acutely aware of why his mistress seldom if ever left the privacy of her manor - indeed, seldom ever left the privacy of her throne room and private chambers. He couldn't imagine her submitting herself to the whims of the elements. While the thick material of his cloak and cowl protected him from the worst of what nature had to offer, it was still not pleasant having raindrops blown in his eyes. He had also learned his lady's deep-seated hatred for all beast-type Digimon. As far as he was concerned, they were useless except as possible victims of the lady's tortures, or, in rare cases, as tools. Right now was one of those times.
With a flick of a clawed hand, Wisemon sent a scrap of magic wandering up into the hills, and he waited. For a long while, nothing happened but the continuous falling of the rain. Wisemon simply waited. Then, in the distance, he saw three dark shapes moving down from the mountainside. He spread his arms wide as if to welcome them, and they came cautiously forward to meet him. They were unpleasant-looking things, and Wisemon had a struggle to hide his revulsion. In aspect, they were something like large dogs and something like dragons, with great ragged wings and sharp claws. Each had four glowing red eyes that watched him suspiciously. Objectively, he couldn't blame them. Devidramon were among the fiercer wild Digimon that roamed the world, solitary beasts who did not care for company of any sort, unless it was the kind of company that could quickly be converted to dinner. They were only here because they'd been compelled by his spell, and if he let his guard down, they were liable to attack him. Of course, such an attack would likely result in them being turned into scraps of data, but...
Wisemon's hands moved again, and the dragon-dogs halted, finding themselves struck by an unnatural but irresistible impulse to leave him alone. Instead, they sat down and stared at him, letting their eyes be drawn to the two glowing points of light that shown within the depths of his cowl. As they stared, they found strange images being pressed into their minds, images of odd creatures they had never seen before, beings that walked on two legs and wore outlandish clothing, creatures that somehow didn't look like Digimon. The three Devidramon were suddenly struck with a notion that they were ravenously hungry, coupled with a certainty that these odd beings would taste simply wonderful, if they could just catch them. Coupled with that was the knowledge that these prizes were wandering around completely unprotected, and less than a mile away.
Wisemon didn't even have to send them off. The Devidramon left in a rush of black wings, spraying water everywhere as they surged from the ground and into the cloudy sky. Wisemon watched them a moment to be sure they were going the right way. Then he nodded in grim satisfaction. The human children would be ripped to bits by the Devidramon, and that would be the end of their meddling. Lady Lilithmon would be pleased, and as long as she was happy, he was free to do whatever else he liked. It had always been a good arrangement, and he was glad it was working out now. He considered simply transporting himself home again, but he paused without completing his spell, held in place by a combination of professional curiosity and personal greed. What, he wondered, would become of a human child after it was destroyed? Would it revert to an egg stage, the way Digimon did? Or would it simply disappear? Or some other possibility unheard of in this world? And then there was the matter of the Artifacts they'd been carrying. Even if the Star of Knowledge refused to obey him, the Staff of Order would, and such a staff would be a useful thing to have around. Making up his mind, he finished his vanishing spell, but not to return to his lady's side. Not just yet.
Knowing nothing of this, the human wanderers continued slogging through the rain, their heads bowed against the onslaught of the heavens. The trees were thinning here, giving way to rocky soil interspersed with patches of grass. It was raining harder than ever now, and without the cover of trees overhead, they were all soaked to the skin. The only blessing was that the rocky soil was not nearly as muddy as the ground they were leaving, though the slippery wet rocks were hardly preferable.
"Just a bit further," said Bokomon. His voice was hardly audible above the rush of rain and the occasional boom of thunder.
"What was that?" asked Kouichi.
"I said, just a bit further!" Bokomon shouted, so loud that Neemon jumped and covered his ears.
"Don't do that!" he protested.
"Oh, did you say something, Bokomon?" Kouichi asked.
"Never mind me," Bokomon muttered. "I didn't say a word."
"Sorry," said Kouichi. "I meant, I knew I heard something, but it didn't sound like someone talking. It sounded more like wings flapping."
"It's the thunder," said Takuya dismissively. "Or maybe the wind."
"Or," said Kouji in tones of resignation, "it could have been those monsters up there."
"Huh?" Takuya looked up, and wished he hadn't. Three spidery creatures, apparently all long legs and claws and teeth and wings, were descending on the group from the stormy sky. Takuya thought he might have preferred a nice, simple lightning bolt.
"Now what do we do?" Junpei shouted.
"We make a run for it, that's what!" Kouji shouted back.
"Are you crazy?" complained Izumi. "We can barely walk in this mess!"
"I'm going to try anyway!" said Tomoki, and broke into a run. The others did their best to follow his example.
There followed a wild scramble up the rocky slope, tripping and stumbling. Neemon tripped and fell; Junpei scooped him up and slung him over his shoulder as he passed. Takuya saw what had happened and picked up Bokomon even as he was running. The little Digimon's feet continued to pump for a few seconds before he realized that he was no longer touching the ground. Then he found himself being plopped onto Takuya's shoulders, and settled himself down comfortably.
"Just keep heading that way!" he shouted. "If we can just make it to the pass, we should be all right!"
"Big if," Takuya muttered. He spared a glance up at the sky and saw the dragons looming closer. He didn't like the way they were moving - they had the distinct look of something who knows its prey can't get away, and it's only a matter of time before it's captured and eaten.
Looking up turned out to be a bad idea, because it took his attention away from his feet. The next thing he knew, his toe had come in contact with something painfully hard, and he was falling and slamming into the ground. His chin struck a rock hard enough to draw blood, and Bokomon fell off his shoulders and was propelled a few additional feet forward until he landed on his stomach. Takuya sat up, spitting mud and gravel, and found himself looking at a set of clawed feet.
"Whoa!" he yelped. He rolled over, and in the next second, he heard the clash of teeth coming together just where he had been earlier.
He looked up - and rolled over again quickly as he saw another set of claws came dropping out of the sky. Leaping to his feet, he saw the third monster land a few yards away, causing the rest of his friends to scatter.
"Do I even want to know what that is?" asked Junpei.
"It's a Devidramon," said Bokomon. "You don't want to know any more than that!"
"That's what I thought," Kouji said. "Hey, you, get away from my friends!"
He twirled the Staff menacingly, distracting the Devidramon long enough for Takuya to back out of the danger zone. One of the Devidramon, braver than the rest, crept forward cautiously and got hit on the nose for its efforts. It backed off, snarling, with malice in its eyes. Kouji felt a sinking feeling. That trick might work once, but he doubted it would catch these monsters by surprise a second time. This one had only been sizing him up, but now that it was angry, it would be difficult to stop it from doing real damage... difficult, or impossible. An urge welled up from somewhere to use the Staff's powers to put these brutes in their place, and he squelched it with an effort.
"Where did these things come from?" he asked, swinging the staff in an arc, attempting to keep the dragons at bay, while the others huddled behind him. "Are these more of Lilithmon's goons?"
"Well," said Bokomon, who was cringing behind Takuya a few yards away, "do you remember when I said that some Digimon don't really need a reason to make trouble...?"
"Great," said Takuya - and jumped as a dragon launched itself at him. Its teeth closed on the hem of his shirt, and he heard a ripping sound as part of the fabric parted company from the rest of the garment. "Any ideas what we should do now?"
"You're going to have to evolve!" said Tomoki. "You're the only one who can fight them off!"
Takuya hesitated. In his mind, it made sense - he was the only one who could become a Digimon, so it fell to him to save his friends. But what if he lost himself again? What if he ran off into the mountains and his friends never found him again? He could be trapped here forever, alone and lost...
*I have to do it,* he told himself. *It's their only chance. Even if I don't make it, I have to protect them...*
He reached deep inside himself, trying to summon that glimmering flame of power that had lodged inside him. He felt it respond - or try to, but it fizzled out. Instead of the rush of warmth he expected, he only felt cold, and intently aware of how wet he was...
The next thing he felt was a flaming pain running across his shoulder. He moved, but it was already too late - one of the Devidramon had already scored a scratch on him. He leaped out of the way, trying to avoid being pounced. Attracted by the scent of blood, the other Devidramon turned their attention to him and began closing in.
"Do something!" shouted Izumi. "Evolve already before you get eaten!"
"I can't!" Takuya called back. There was a note of panic in his voice; for all his efforts, he was barely keeping out of clawing range. "It's too wet! The rain just puts the fire out!"
"Well, somebody's got to do something!" said Tomoki. "Hey, you ugly things! Leave Takuya alone! Go away!"
He ran up to the nearest Devidramon and pulled sharply on its tail. The dragon whirled and snapped at him, and he jumped out of the way.
"You're just making it angry!" said Bokomon. "Quit fooling around and run away!"
"That's what I'm trying to do!" Takuya shouted back.
"Scatter!" Kouji ordered. "Maybe we can confuse them!"
He suited action to words, running daringly alongside the crowd of Devidramon and shouting at them, trying to attract their attention. Having no better plans, the rest of the group did the same, running in circles and making enough noise to rival the storm. The Devidramon watched them, looking confused. As soon as they had taken their eyes off of Takuya, he broke into his fastest run.
"Head for the trees!" he called. "Hide and regroup later!"
Junpei heard this and moved to obey, but his heart wasn't in it. Around him, he could see his friends running for their lives, scattering in all directions, while behind him, he could hear the beating of leathery wings. The sound of the driving rain and thunder seemed to be intensifying around him; the world felt dark. Inside, his blood was boiling. He might be the most peaceable of people most of hte time, but when his friends were threatened, he could turn into a juggernaut without warning. How dare these monsters attack his friends? And why was he running away from them? He was a Legendary Warrior; he ought to be zapping these things into oblivion, not running away! But his Spirit was lost, now, gone to who-knew-where, and now all he could do to protect his friends was run and hide...
"No," he said, halting. "I refuse to run away!"
Out of the corner of her eye, Izumi saw him stop, and she shouted at him as she ran.
"Junpei, you idiot, what are you doing? Get away!"
He shook his head, silently. The wind lashed rain into his face, and water sheeted over his skin and dripped from his clothes and hair. He could feel the air around him tingling; he was vaguely aware that he had paused on a hilltop, and more acutely aware of how exposed he was to the elements. The clouds overhead seemed so close that he could almost reach up and touch them...
*I don't care whether I've got the Spirit of Thunder with me or not. This storm ought to be my ally. There has to be a way...*
In the air above him, the three Devidramon had spotted him. Seeing a human standing still and wide open, they moved as one to rush towards him. They fell like black hailstones, too fast to dodge, and Junpei could only stand and watch them coming and reflect, somewhere in the back of his mind, if perhaps he'd made a very stupid mistake. Then something inside him snapped, and he shook his fist at the sky and bellowed, "Help me!"
There was a sizzling rush, and the Devidramon fanned their wings and tried to backpedal as a bolt of lightning fell out of the sky and struck Junpei's upraised fist.
For his part, all he noticed was a sudden flash of light that seemed to obscure the world in white brilliance. He was aware of a flood of energy rushing through him, making every nerve tingle. It was a strange feeling, but not unpleasant - on the contrary, he couldn't remember feeling more completely alive...
...Every heartbeat, every thought you have is powered by an electrical pulse, the same force that flashes in the heart of a storm. The same power that lights the cities and powers the machines is also moving in you and in everything that moves and breathes. It moves in the sky and the earth, and is the path that connects the two. You will never be alone, and have never been alone, because you are connected to every living thing. The thunder is in you; you are Thunder!
To those watching from the sidelines, all that could be seen was a snaking line of light that briefly linked the storm that roared in the sky to their friend as he shouted on the ground. Then there was an eye-searing flash... and something flew out of it.
For a moment, the observers on all sides were at a loss to say exactly what they were seeing, other than that it was rather bluish in color and moving very, very fast. Then it slowed briefly, hovering in midair to better size up his opponents, and in the flash of a bolt of lightning, they were finally able to catch a glimpse. What they saw was a small human-type warrior wearing blue boots, gloves, and armor that plated his chest and shoulders, worn over loose clothing of pale blue cloth. Most of his face seemed to be covered by a matching scarf, but they could see a pair of green eyes glinting out. On his head was a helmet that put them in mind of the samurai of old, adorned with two trailing ribbons that brought to mind lightning bolts, or the antennae of an insect. From his back sprung a set of wings - whirring insect's wings, and over that, the harder shell-wings of a beetle, patterned in blue and gold. The group had barely enough time to register these details before he started moving again and faded into a blue blur.
Kouji had stopped running. He looked to where his brother stood a few yards away, equally still.
"You don't have to tell me," he said dryly. "I can guess what happened."
Kouichi nodded silently and watched as his friend-turned-Digimon shot through the sky. "Well, this complicates things, doesn't it?"
Meanwhile, unaware that he was being watched, Junpei continued his flight. He was enjoying himself immensely. The lightning was still thrumming in his veins, and he was feeling high in more ways than just altitude. Never in his life had he been able to move so freely! Even as Blitzmon, he had always been primarily a heavy metal fighter, built more for power than maneuverability. Now he was discovering speed - and liking it. Around him, the thunderclouds rolled, and he laughed.
Suddenly, something struck him, throwing him off course. He struggled to right himself, glaring behind him to see what had dared to interrupt his flight. He wasn't injured - the attack had only clipped the hard part of his wings - but he was annoyed at the interruption. Couldn't whoever or whatever it was leave him alone to enjoy himself?
"Knock it off, would you?" he scolded the Devidramon.
The Devidramon was not impressed. It snarled at him and snapped its teeth at him, but by that time, he had already flown several feet straight upwards, and was now glaring down at all three of them. Crazy dogs - didn't they know better? He wasn't someone to take lightly. He was Mushimon, the incarnation of Thunder!
*Wait a minute, is that right? I'm pretty sure things weren't like this yesterday... but it feels so natural. I must be wrong... Of course this is who I am!*
The nearest Devidramon attempted a lunge, but it was no match for Mushimon's speed, and its claws closed on thin air. Mushimon watched it from a safe distance, and then began flying straight toward it. The demon-dog tried to claw at him as he went by - and so did the Devidramon next to it. The two of them crashed into each other and fell out of the sky in a tangle of long limbs and helplessly fluttering wings. They hit the rocky terrain below with an audible crash and lay there, stunned.
"Two down, one to go," said Mushimon.
The last Devidramon didn't look like it was prepared to go down without a fight. It hovered a short distance away, watching its enemy carefully. It seemed to have gotten the message that it could not outmaneuver this small flying thing, so it hung back, watching for an opening. The insect-warrior buzzed closer, just out of reach, taunting it. With the speed of a striking snake, the Devidramon lunged forward, mouth wide open, and suddenly all Mushimon could see was teeth and the red-black of a throat.
"Jolt Jab!"
The Devidramon backed off with a gurgling howl of agony. Just as its jaws were about to close, Mushimon had jammed a small, glowing dagger into the back of its throat. While it thrashed in pain, its prey retreated a short distance, waiting to see if the monster would try again, but the Devidramon had had enough. The spell that had compelled it to come this far had hinted of soft, easy prey - not speedy beetles that stung so painfully. With a final snarl, it turned and flapped off into the cloudy sky and vanished from sight.
"Any other takers?" asked Mushimon.
There were none. The other Devidramon had recovered their wits with the spell dispersed, and at the sight of each other, they had run off in opposite directions, returning to their solitude. Mushimon acknowledged his victory with a cheer and a flourish of his dagger before sliding it back in place. Then he turned and prepared to soar off to new battlefields.
"Hey, you!" Takuya shouted. "Come back here! You aren't leaving yet!"
Mushimon paused, looking down in puzzlement. "Why not?"
"Because you've got to come with us," Tomoki told him.
Mushimon blinked. Come to think of it, these people did look oddly familiar, but the memory felt a million years old. Surely they didn't matter, anymore. Not when the freedom of the sky and the storm beckoned so temptingly.
"Why should I come with you?" he asked. "You could never keep up with me. You'd just drag me down."
"Not if you changed back into a human," said Kouichi.
"You're crazy. I'm not human. I'm Mushimon, a warrior of Thunder."
"That doesn't matter," said Kouji. "You'll come with us anyway, and if you don't, we'll follow you, because you're our friend."
Mushimon shook his head. "You're not making any sense. I don't know you at all... and even if I did, why should I follow you? Sorry, but I'm leaving."
He turned and began to fly away. The others watched, perplexed. How were they supposed to follow him when he could fly so fast in any direction? He could simply disappear into the clouds, and they'd never know which way he'd gone.
"I should have known it would come to this!"
The shout was so loud and so intense that the rest of the group jumped, and Mushimon halted in midair. He turned around and looked - at Izumi, who was glaring up at him with a fire in her eyes that all the rainstorms in the world couldn't put out.
"I just knew you'd be like this in the end. I knew it all along!" she ranted. "You can never trust a guy, not one of them! They tell you they like you, and as soon as you let yourself trust them, they throw you aside like a used gum wrapper! I should have known all along that you never meant it when you said you loved me."
And she turned on her heel and started marching determinedly away. The other boys nearby backed away from her, as if they thought she might explode.
Mushimon simply stared at her, an expression of profound shock in his eyes... and then, slowly, a look of pain.
"Wait!" he said. "Hey, wait... don't go. Did I... do something wrong?" He shook himself. "Come back! Izumi!"
She stopped. Slowly, she turned around to meet his eyes.
"So you do remember me," she said. "I thought you would, if I prodded you a little."
"Of course I remember you! How could I forget? But..." He shook himself. "Geez, I'm all confused... Everything's a blur... You guys look really small from way up here, you know that?"
Sensing that the worst of the battle had been won, Takuya managed a reassuring grin. "Well, come on down and let's see if we can get you straightened out."
Mushimon slowly descended from the sky to land on the grass in front of the others. As he came closer to them, he was surprised to realize that his new Digimon form was actually several inches shorter than his natural human form. He was used to being the tallest of the lot, and now he was on eye level with Tomoki. He was used to looking up to Izumi in a figurative sense, but having her actually stand an inch or two taller than him was a new and faintly unsettling experience.
"This is weird," he muttered. "I don't know if I like this anymore."
"It's okay, man, we'll work through it," said Takuya. "If it works for you like it worked for me, you've just got to concentrate really hard on being human again."
"I'll try," his friend answered.
He closed his eyes and tried as hard as he could to remember what it was like being human. It wasn't easy; his freshest memories were of flying free in the clouds, and everything else seemed dim and distant.
*Come on, you can do this!* he told himself. *You know you're really supposed to be a human...*
Images flickered through his mind, hazy memories of the past. He tried to grab hold of them, to force himself to remember what he was really supposed to be. It was no use. The half of him that still wanted to be a Digimon was stubbornly refusing to be forced back into the heavy, clumsy form it used to occupy. The effort involved was draining, and he sat back and closed his eyes, trying to push past the headache that was trying to form and decide what to do.
*Plan. Need a plan. Maybe if I just start small...*
He opened his eyes again and looked down at his hands - or what he could see of them. What he had now was gloves, and he was not entirely sure if he could get them off again. That bothered him. He had very little vanity when it came to his looks, but he'd always been rather proud of his hands. The rest of him might be a bit pudgy and awkward, but his hands were toned and agile, and trained to a nicety to do whatever he asked of them. There was magic in them - maybe his human form couldn't fly or fight off monsters, but couldn't he pull of a few small miracles all the same, even if it was just to put a smile of wonder and delight on a child's face? Even as he thought about it, the image seemed to crystalize, until there was nothing more real than that memory...
"It's about time!"
Junpei opened his eyes. The sound of Kouji speaking had pulled him out of his daydreams. He looked down and noticed that he was once again comfortably clad in khakis and a t-shirt.
"We were starting to get worried about you," said Kouji. "It was looking like you were going to stay like that all day."
"It's not as easy as it looks," said Junpei. "I'd like to see you try it."
Kouji's expression was unusually sober, even for him. "I'm starting to think I'd rather not. This thing we're doing - this element evolution, or whatever it is - is starting to look dangerous."
"Yeah, well, so is an angry Devidramon," said Takuya, but it wasn't with quite his usual level of confidence. "Come on. I think we'd better get out of here, before those things decide to come back."
Junpei nodded mutely and allowed his friends to help him back to his feet. He still felt weak and shaky, and still not quite his usual, cheerful self. He plodded slowly alongside the others as they continued their journey toward the pass, and the clouds quietly dispersed above their heads.
Meanwhile, Wisemon continued to watch, narrowing his eyes in consternation. Things had not gone according to his plan, and while he was wise enough to accept that he could not predict every variable that would come into play during a battle, he was finding that he was still mildly perturbed by the fight's outcome. He had been hoping, of course, for a quick and complete rout, and rather expecting that at least one or two members of the group would be destroyed (or eaten) and that the others would be injured and probably scattered. Instead, he found them mildly demoralized, but otherwise in perfect health.
*I see where I made my mistake. I have put too much faith in the vulnerability of humans. These are not just humans; they are Digimon in human skins. That puts a slightly different face on the matter. I must treat them with more caution.*
He mused for a while, weighing his options. With nothing to prove otherwise, he was going to have to assume that at any time, one or more of these humans could evolve to a powerful and probably unknown Digimon form. He would have to take that into account the next time he dealt with them.
*One at a time. I think that is the best way to deal with them. Then, if it does come to a direct confrontation, the target will not have friends to fall back on. They seem to lose their memories of being human when they transform. I can use that against them. Perhaps, at the very least, I can arrange it so that they forget all about wanting to search for Fabled Artifacts...*
He nodded, mind made up. If he was going to separate the children from each other, he would need information of a very specific sort, which could only be obtained by long and careful observation. He could have done it himself, but he had other worries. However, his sister could, and would be grateful for the work. He would leave it up to her to tell him what he wanted to know. He would ask her... just as soon as he got out of this beastly rain and got himself properly dry. With a sound like a tired sigh, Wisemon vanished into the gloom.
Upon arrival, it was immediately obvious why the gap that began the mountain road was called the Waterstone Pass. The brief but torrential rain that had fallen had filled the mountains with running water, and most of it seemed to be converging here. The pass had been carved between two steep mountains, creating roughly vertical walls on either side of the road. Down these walls spilled trickles of water, sometimes leaping out like fountains, sometimes splashing from rock to jutting rock, and sometimes just shimmering over the face of the stone like the sheerest of veils. It collected at the bottom in two deep trenches, which collected it and diverted it to who-knew-where. Tomoki eyed them with interest, dropping pebbles into the water to see them splash.
"Well, here we are," said Bokomon proudly, as if he had been solely responsible for carving out the whole divide. "I told you I'd get you here. This is the beginning of the road through the mountains... the only reasonably safe one, anyway."
"Is there anywhere safe to rest along the way?" asked Kouichi, sizing up the pass with a measure of distrust. Fifty yards away, the pass angled slightly, and he could not see where it ended or very much of what was ahead. "I don't want to walk into a rockslide or something."
"I am under the impression that there are way-stations between here and the other side of the range," said Bokomon. "However, this pass isn't taken very often, and they may have fallen into disuse. I suppose we'll have to see when we get there."
"That's encouraging," said Izumi, making a wry face. "Oh, well, it could be worse. At least it's not going to rain again today."
"Don't say that," Kouji said. "You'll jinx us."
"No I won't. It's not going to rain anymore today. Not on us, anyway," said Izumi confidently.
Out of habit, the others glanced at Junpei, expecting confirmation, but he was oddly silent. He had been moody ever since his brush with the Devidramon, speaking little and staring at the ground with a worried expression.
"Is he okay?" asked Neemon.
"He'll be all right," said Takuya. "I'll talk to him. I know how he feels, kind of."
The others took the hint and began to obligingly wander further down the pass, allowing Takuya to talk to Junpei in semi-privacy. Junpei watched the others leaving with a puzzled and slightly hurt expression.
"Where did everybody go?" he asked.
"It's okay," Takuya assured him. "They just thought you looked like you needed some breathing space... You okay?"
"Kind of," said Junpei.
"You sure?"
Junpei sighed. "No."
"Yeah, that's kind of what I thought," said Takuya. "Can you talk about it?"
He shrugged. "I don't know... I almost lost myself. I almost forgot everything I am... I almost lost you guys, too. I almost walked off and left the most important things I have..." He shook his head; his voice was trembling slightly. "All my life, all I ever wanted was to have friends like you guys. I never want to lose any of you, and now... I might do it any time, you know? I could just disappear into thin air and never realize it had happened..."
"I know, man," said Takuya gravely. "I've been there, too. It's scary. But remember, we're here for you no matter what. We won't let you just disappear. You're our friend, too, remember? We'll track you to the ends of the earth, if that's what it takes, but we won't let you get away."
"You mean it?"
"What, are you crazy? Of course I mean it!" said Takuya. "Just wouldn't be the same without you cluttering up the place, you know?"
Junpei gave him a shaky smile. "Yeah, I think I do."
"Good," said Takuya. "I wouldn't want you to worry. Come on, let's catch up to the others."
He slung a friendly arm over Junpei's shoulder, and the two of them lengthened their strides to rejoin their friends.