Note to Cave Cat: I'm sorry you're upset by me not using your suggestion. I've already got this story plotted out from beginning to end, and it just wouldn't work to go changing things that much. If you want a more detailed explanation, you can e-mail me. Otherwise, just take it on faith that I've got things under control, and I'm not just making this up as I go along.
It was dark. That was all Takuya's exhausted brain was managing to process, at the moment. They had been traveling steadily since they had left the Mount Landing pass, managing to keep going despite the toll lack of sleep was taking on them, not to mention the lack of food. They'd eaten the last of what they had, and were now stumbling along, trying not to listen to the growling of their stomachs, telling themselves that there had to be something to look forward to ahead of them somewhere. Takuya watched the shadows falling over the path with a growing sense that he had been stupid to ever think of going on this crazy journey.
At least the going was getting easier. They had been proceeding steadily downhill for the last few hours, and were now on nearly level ground. Trees surrounded them once again, in the form of low-growing pine trees with needles that twisted into corkscrew shapes. There were still a few mountains looming against the midnight blue sky, but they were mere hills compared to what they'd already covered, and Bokomon assured the humans that those were the last obstacle they would have to cross on their way to the flat lands. The difficult part was over, but it was hard to be cheerful about that when one was traversing a dark forest that seemed to have little in the way of either shelter or food.
"Hey! Hey! Over here!" a voice squeaked.
Everyone looked up. On the path ahead, nearly invisible against the shadows, a small Digimon was bouncing up and down excitedly. It looked like a child's rendition of a cat - all face, ears, and tail. Hopping up and down the way it was, it gave the impression of a basketball that had decided to take its life into its own metaphorical hands.
"Hey, you're the ones we're waiting for, right?" it chirped. "The humans sent by the Great Angels? We've been expecting you!"
"What's that thing?" asked Junpei, reviving a little at this sign of a welcome.
"A Nyaramon!" Bokomon replied. "Thank goodness for that, too! I was starting to think we might have missed our mark."
"We were looking for this?" Tomoki asked. He tiptoed forward to get a better look at the bouncy Digimon. It hopped over to him, and he knelt to pat it on the head.
"Yes," said Bokomon. "Nyaramon are a lower evolution of Tailmon, and it's the Tailmon who run the inn in this area. Therefore..."
"All right!" Junpei cheered. "We're home free!"
"Not quite home," Kouji said, smiling a little anyway, "but better than being lost in the mountains!"
"That's right, that's right!" the Nyaramon said. "Follow me! I'll lead you to the inn! Dinner's almost ready!"
The mention of food was enough to make everyone pick up their weary feet and follow the Nyaramon at a rapid trot. Very soon, they found themselves approaching a two-storey building that seemed to be constructed of the same pine wood that grew everywhere in this area. All of its many windows were lit, glowing a welcoming gold through the darkness. Broad double front doors were open, and the light silhouetted a number of catlike Tailmon, who gazed curiously at these newcomers.
"Hey, they're here!" one of the called back into the house.
There was an excited cry from inside. The Tailmon who had spoken trotted forward to meet her guests as they approached the front porch, and bowed politely to them as they arrived. The other Tailmons, identical to the first save that they all wore different colored aprons, gathered closer for a better look.
"Welcome!" said the first Tailmon. "I am the chief hostess here at this inn. We're all honored to have such great people staying with us in our humble home. I and my family will be happy to serve you in any way possible, so if you need anything, please feel free to ask. We have a stew almost ready to serve, if any of you are hungry, and we already have beds made up for all of you. Unless you would prefer to bathe first?"
The group looked at each other, slightly dazed by this outpouring of generosity.
"Oh my," said Izumi. "I don't know which to ask for first!"
"Dinner," said Junpei, who always knew his priorities.
"I second that motion," said Kouichi. "I can't sleep when I'm hungry, anyway."
The general feeling was that a genuine warm meal would be a very good idea, so they allowed themselves to be ushered into the inn by a collection of small furry creatures. The inside of the building was warm and spacious, made cozy by a collection of rugs and woven wall hangings, giving the sense that this building would never be cold even in the deepest winter. This effect was enhanced by a roaring fire at the far end of the room. It was fully large enough to park a motorcycle inside it, if it hadn't been full of blazing logs. Tomoki rushed over to warm his hands in front of it. Merging with the Spirit of Ice had taken a lot out of him, and he had complained that he hadn't felt properly warm ever since. In other parts of the room were scattered chairs of various sizes, meant to accommodate any and all types of Digimon who might choose to stay there. The ceiling soared two storeys overhead, with its reaches illuminated by hanging chandeliers full of candles. A walkway ran around the perimeter of the room, with stairs leading up to it tucked in a corner, and doorways marked where the sleeping quarters upstairs were. The first floor had a smaller selection of doors leading to the left and right.
"The main dining area is this way," said the innkeeper. "The other passage leads to the baths."
"That's where I'm headed," said Izumi. "Dinner can wait until I don't feel like something that crawled out of a mud puddle."
"Don't blame me if there's no dinner left when you get back!" said Takuya. "I'm about to starve."
"Don't worry, my lady," said one of the Tailmon. "We always make sure there's enough for everyone. Take all the time you need."
"That's what I wanted to hear," she replied. "Later, guys!"
She departed down one passage, guided by one of the Tailmon. The rest of the group continued to the dining room, which was quite all right by her. Hungry as she was, she hated the thought of eating when she felt so dirty, and anyway, it would be nice to have a few moments of privacy. The boys were wonderful company, but having to spend nearly every minute of every day with them for several days running was enough to tire anyone out. There were times when a girl needed to be alone.
Perhaps the Digimon in charge sensed this, because the innkeepers performed their duties with a minimum of talk. The Tailmon Izumi had been following guided her to a large tub full of steaming water, and a number of Plotmon appeared as if from nowhere, bearing bottles of soap and a selection of towels and washcloths. Then, with a final word to call if she needed anything, all of them disappeared, leaving Izumi to attend to herself.
Once she was quite certain she was alone (even though most of these Digimon seemed to be more or less female, she still disliked having people watch her while she bathed) she divested herself of her garments and slipped into the tub. The water was hotter than it looked, and it took her a while to finally ease herself into it, but it felt wonderful once she was settled into place.
"Mmm. This is the best thing that's happened since I got here," she said to herself.
She reached for a bottle of shampoo and began trying to work a few days worth of travel dust out of her hair. It took several rinses for her to be convinced that her hair was actually clean. She had always been a little vain about her hair, and it annoyed her that she couldn't take care of it properly - ducking her head in a cold stream hardly seemed like enough, but it was the best she could usually do out here in the wilderness. It was only after she was satisfied with the results of these ablutions that she turned her attention to tidying the rest of her.
A sparkle of light caught her attention. Heeding the advice Bokomon had given her, Izumi had never taken off the Star of Guidance since the moment she had found it - or it had found her. Just now, it was the only thing she was wearing. She cupped it in her hands, staring at it. No, that wasn't just a reflection of the lamplight. It was unmistakably glowing.
Meanwhile, the rest of the group had gathered around the dinner table. The food was simple fare, suitable for entertaining large numbers of guests at once. It mainly consisted of a large pot of some kind of thick stew, flavored strongly with herbs, and small loaves of coarse brown bread. To the hungry travelers, it tasted like the best food in the world, and they were wolfing it down as fast as the servers could ladle it out.
"Ah, now I feel more like myself!" said Junpei, as he emptied his bowl for the third time.
"Who did you feel like before?" Takuya teased.
"Oh, come on. You know what I mean!" Junpei replied. "What have you got to pick on me for?"
"Probably because you just started your fourth helping," said Kouji.
Junpei shrugged. The servers, who seemed rather flattered by his enthusiastic response to their cooking, had refilled his bowl without him bothering to ask.
"Well, I hate to insult them," he said.
Takuya laughed. "You know, there's nobody I'd rather have with me in a fight, but you can be such a pushover sometimes."
"I don't know. He could be right," said Kouichi, shrugging philosophically. "We might as well tank up while we can. No telling what will happen to us tomorrow."
"So where are we going next?" asked Tomoki, looking curiously at Bokomon.
"Onward over the hills, I suppose," said Bokomon. He was making a vain attempt to eat with one hand and look at his book with the other without spilling stew on the pages. He had so far managed to protect his book, but the tabletop and Bokomon himself had not fared quite so well. "The going shouldn't be quite so difficult from here on in - not until we come to the desert, anyway. The mountains beyond this point are much gentler and more thoroughly explored than the ones we've crossed so far. Beyond them, there is a small village where we can get supplies and information. If we're lucky, someone there will have heard rumors of the Fabled Artifacts."
"Awesome," said Takuya. He flourished his empty bowl. "Hey, can a guy get a refill over here, or what?"
Junpei prodded him. "Now who's being greedy?"
"Hey, I worked hard keeping you all from freezing back there. I deserve a reward!"
The conversation was broken up by the arrival of Izumi. She had changed into fresh clothing, but her hair still clung damply to her face and neck, and her skin was still flushed from the heat of the bath.
"There's one nearby," she said.
"One what?" asked Neemon blankly.
"A Fabled Artifact," she said. She held up the Star as proof; it was now flashing and glittering urgently, as if it were in training to become a strobe light. "It's got to be really close by, but it's so close, I can't get a fix on it. It's sparking like crazy no matter which way I turn."
"Well, if it's that close, we're bound to find it, if we look," said Tomoki. "I wonder which one it is?"
"Which ones are still missing?" asked Kouichi. "I remember the Pipes of Peace, the Shroud of Life, the Blade of Courage, and, um..."
"The Light of Love," Bokomon finished. "It's said to be the most beautiful of all the Fabled Artifacts. Its light gleams more brightly than a star, and all those who gaze upon its radiance are filled with love and compassion for their fellow creatures. It is said that whoever holds it will be safe from treachery, for no one who harbors the seeds of darkness in their heart can bear to look at its purifying light."
"Except that it got corrupted," said Junpei, "and now it turns everyone who looks at it into a mind-slave."
"Well, yes, there is that," Bokomon allowed. "It was corrupted by evil influences and turned into a tool of coercion. However, the one who committed that crime was destroyed some years later, and the Light itself was lost from all records."
"So it's one of those four," Kouji summarized. "Maybe someone here knows something about it, if it's that close by. Is there anyone here who would know the local legends?"
"The chief innkeeper would know," said one of the Plotmon who had been serving them. "Would you like me to fetch her for you?"
"Please," said Bokomon. He fished out a pen and a clean sheet of paper, obviously intent on taking notes.
The chief innkeeper was brought forth.
"You wanted to speak to me?" she asked.
"Yeah," said Takuya. "We were wondering if you knew any stories and stuff that might help us figure out where the Fabled Artifacts are. We think there's one close by."
"Hmm," said the innkeeper. "It's possible. There is an old story in my family... My great- grandfather was a TobuCatmon, and a great explorer. I've heard my grandmother say that he would often find treasures on his journeys. It's said that he claimed to have once found something more precious than gold or jewels... but he hid it somewhere. I've searched for it, from time to time, but I've never been able to locate it, or even learn what it was."
"I suppose asking him is out of the question," said Kouji tiredly.
"I'm afraid so. He died before I was born... or we assume he did. He went into the Misty Woods one day and never came back. My great-grandmother established this inn here in hopes that someday he would find his way back. When she died, she left it to my grandmother, who in turn left it to me. We never did learn his fate. None of us are brave enough to enter the Misty Forest where he disappeared. Even he never managed to map more than a small part of it."
"Do you suppose that's where he hid the treasure?" Kouichi wondered.
"It would make sense," said the innkeeper. "Not many people are brave enough to enter the forest, these days. It could have rested there undisturbed for years."
"Sounds like we're going to have to take a closer look at this forest, then," said Kouji.
"Not now!" said the innkeeper, sounding distressed. "It's dark out now! You'll get lost."
"We might not," said Kouichi.
He and his brother exchanged looks. Kouji could guess what his twin was thinking: that maybe out there, under the thick shadows of fog and trees, he might finally be able to evolve into... whatever he would evolve into.
You'd think it wouldn't be so difficult, Kouji mused. Fire, ice, and thunder aren't always near at hand, but light and shadow are with us no matter where we go.
Now, what was it about that thought that felt important? He couldn't quite put his finger on it...
"No point in risking it," said Takuya. "We're all worn out, anyway. Besides, if we're going to look for lost Artifacts, we might as well do it while there's some light. Otherwise, we might trip over it without even seeing it."
"You're probably right," said Izumi. "Right now, I'm so tired I can barely keep my eyes open. I hope I don't fall asleep in my dinner plate."
"Then you'll just have to take a bath again," said Takuya.
She stuck her tongue out at him and went to seize something to eat.
"Anyway, the bathhouse is free if anyone wants it!" she said. "No offense, guys, but some of you could use it."
"Thanks a lot," said Kouji dryly.
"I'll go," said Junpei. "I was done eating, anyway."
He handed his empty dish to one of the Nyaramon and wandered off. Izumi shrugged, slipped into his vacated seat, and started eating her dinner.
"Did I insult him?" she said.
"Ah, you know him," said Takuya. "All you have to do is mention you don't like green, and he'll run home and throw out every green shirt he owns."
"I know, I know," she said. "I keep thinking someday he'll grow out of it."
"Not likely," Kouji opined. "You'll just have to get used to it."
"I am used to it," she said. "Sometimes it's almost cute - but don't tell him I said that."
"Wouldn't dream of it," said Takuya innocently.
"Try it, and I'll haul you into the bathhouse and duck your head underwater!"
"Not while he's in there!"
"This is getting ridiculous," said Kouji. "I'm going to my room."
"We'll show you the way!" one of the Nyaramon chirped. "Follow us!"
He allowed himself to be guided back into the main room and up the stairs to one of the upstairs apartments. It was a nice little room, so far as it went - a simple bed, a vanity table with a bowl of water for washing, a privy tucked away in a corner, and a window that looked out into the forest. It was nothing elaborate, but it was clean and well-kept, and there was a woven rug on the floor and a warm-looking patchwork quilt thrown over the bed to give it some semblance of hominess.
He thanked the Digimon politely and closed the door, leaving himself to luxuriate in the first moments of complete privacy he'd had in days. It was very quiet, here. Either there were no other guests in the inn that night, or they were all asleep in their rooms already, and didn't have anything to do that would bother Kouji. He lay back on his bed for a while, enjoying the silence, but he found that he didn't feel like sleeping just yet. He got up and walked over to the window, peering out at the forest. Thin beams of moonlight penetrated the canopy of pine needles, but all they could do was illuminate tiny patches of earth. There was not enough light to comfortably see by. He felt a little stifled, looking at the light that was trying to reach him, but couldn't.
Light and shadows... There was that thought again - no, not a thought, but that nagging sense of something missing. It was something painfully obvious that he was overlooking.
Ah, well. Perhaps it would come to him as he slept. He shuffled back to his bed, lay down, and closed his eyes. Soon he was asleep, dreaming of chasing moonbeams through a forest filled with fog.
Morning arrived, taking away the shadows, the moonbeams, and possibly the fog as well. It brought six wide-awake Legendary Warriors and two slightly less legendary companions, all of whom felt much better for a solid night's sleep. They enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, and then began preparing to make their expedition into the forest.
"Do you think this would be useful?" Takuya wondered aloud, holding up a roll of wire he'd found.
"Useful for what?" Tomoki asked.
"I don't know. It might be good for something."
The innkeeper had given them permission to search the storage shed for anything they might find useful on their mission. Generations of peculiar junk had been piled up in there, most of it rusting, broken, falling apart, or generally useless. Some of it was no longer even identifiable.
"I wonder what this thing used to be?" Izumi said, holding up a peculiar amalgam of metal and wood. "Some kind of garden tool... or is it a weapon?"
"I think it's something to trim tree limbs with," said Kouichi. "Maybe."
"Hey, look what I found!" said Junpei.
He reached into a wooden crate and pulled out a badly tarnished lamp. It was an old- fashioned dark lantern, by the look of it - the kind with a shutter on the front that could be opened or closed to control the amount of light it put out.
"Nice find," Takuya said. "I bet that would come in handy, next time we're lost in the dark. Happens to us a lot, for some reason."
Kouji stepped forward to study the lamp more closely. "It would be a lot more useful if it wasn't broken."
"Huh?" said Junpei. He studied his prize a bit more carefully, but could find nothing wrong with it.
"It's missing some pieces," Kouji pointed out. "Look, there's no place to put a wick, even. And the door is stuck."
"Oh, yeah." Junpei looked mournfully at the lantern. "Well, maybe I can fix it."
"Don't bother," said Kouji. "We won't need it in the daytime, anyway."
"Hmph," Junpei said. He clutched it protectively, as if fearing someone would take it away from him. "Well, it could be fixed."
Tomoki peered at it, rubbing at the dust and cobwebs that coated it. "I bet I could rig something up, if I had the time."
"Keep it if you want," said Kouji. "You'll just have to carry it."
"So I'll carry it, then," said Junpei.
"Hey, this looks pretty cool!" said Tomoki. He hauled what appeared to be a sword and scabbard out from a pile of other assorted junk.
"Ooh, let me see!" Takuya ran to get a better look at the sword. Tomoki obediently handed it to him, and Takuya made a clumsy show of trying to draw it from its sheath. When he did finally release it, it revealed a badly corroded blade. It shed chips of rust as Takuya pulled it free. When he swung it experimentally at a support beam nearby, the whole thing cracked in two.
"Nuts," Takuya muttered. "I thought it would be cool to have a sword."
"What would you do with it?" asked Kouji. "Do you have any training with swords?"
"Not really," said Takuya. "I just think they're cool."
"What do you think of this?" said Kouichi. "I found a compass!"
"That's the most useful thing anyone's found all day," Kouji replied. "Good job, Kouichi."
The door to the shed, already slightly ajar, was pushed the rest of the way open, flooding the area with sunlight. A Tailmon came scampering in, carrying a sheaf of papers.
"We found the maps!" she announced. "They were under someone's bed."
Izumi took the maps and began flipping through them carefully. They were drawn on some kind of peculiar parchment that felt almost more like soft leather or cloth than paper. Still, they were obviously old, and she was cautious not to tear them. The ink was faded here and there, but on the whole, they were in remarkably good condition.
"We'll be very careful with them," she said.
"Please try not to damage them," the Tailmon replied. "They've been in our family for generations. And if you find any clue as to what became of our great-grandfather..."
"We'll certainly keep our eyes peeled," Izumi promised. Privately, she wasn't sure what they could expect to find of an explorer who vanished years ago, but there was always a chance something might turn up.
"I think we've found all we're going to find in here," said Kouji, abandoning his inspection of what appeared to be a box of old bowls and plates. "Let's get moving while it's still light out, and maybe it won't be quite so foggy and dark."
"It's always foggy and dark in the Misty Woods," the Tailmon said, "but you're right to want to go there while it's still light. Try to be out of that place by nightfall, if you can! There are too many bad rumors about that place to take chances."
The group agreed that they would be as careful as they could. They said goodbye to the Tailmon and the rest of her family, most of whom had come out to see them depart, and then set out into the woods.
For the first leg of their journey, they stuck to the well-traveled path that ran in front of the inn. It was pleasant to be traveling on smooth, level ground after all the tromping around the mountains they had been doing lately. Shafts of sunlight spilled through the trees to warm their shoulders, and curious forest Digimon peered at them through the branches. It was easy going, and they laughed and chatted with each other as they walked.
Eventually, they came to a place where the road bent at almost a ninety-degree angle for no visible reason - or at least, no reason that would have been visible if they hadn't been carrying a map. Just ahead of them was the part of the forest called the Misty Wood, and that was where they were going. They marched resolutely off the beaten track and into the forest, trading beaten earth for slightly damp pine needles and the occasional patch of moss. Beyond that point, the trees started growing more closely together, forcing the group to take a winding path as they worked their way around trees and clumps of bramble bushes. The trees themselves were different here: older looking, covered in moss and lichen. They had a grave, venerable air about them, as if they had witnessed many dire things in their lifetimes, and were now looking disapprovingly down at these young upstarts who thought they could challenge their superiority here. It wasn't long after that when the first tendrils of mist started to drift by. Soon their visibility was reduced to only a few yards, as a cold fog settled over everything.
"I don't like this much," said Takuya, rubbing uneasily at his arms. The clinging mist was condensing on his skin and soaking his clothes, and he was growing chilled.
"I don't like it much, either, but this is the way the map says to go," said Izumi. She was holding up the Star in front of her, and it was shining its brightest, as if it intended to pierce the fog by its own power. All it was really managing to do was make the fog light up a bit, so that the area looked spookier than ever, flooded as it was in glowing mist.
"Which way do we go from here?" asked Kouichi, looking around at the indeterminate scenery. "If I didn't have the compass with me, I wouldn't know which way we'd come from, or which way we're going, or whether or not we're just walking in circles."
"You're doing better than I am," Izumi replied.
"Don't say that!" said Tomoki. "You're the one with the map!"
"I know," Izumi replied, "but it's kind of hard to follow a map when all I can see are trees, trees, and more trees."
"You're lucky to be able to see the trees," Takuya complained. "Where's all this fog coming from, anyway?"
"I'll tell you one thing," said Kouji. "I'm really glad we decided to wait until morning. I wouldn't want to be here in the dark!"
"We'd be okay," said Kouichi. "Even if we did get stuck here in the dark, we could just camp out until morning, and follow the compass back out again. We know roughly which way we came from, and which way we're headed, so even if we get a little off the track..."
"Yeah, it's not bad here," said Junpei. "It's kind of peaceful. Besides, even Lilithmon and her helpers probably couldn't find us in all of this."
"Is that a cheerful thought, or not?" said Izumi.
"It could be true," said Takuya. "Nobody could find anybody in this mess. I haven't seen any Digimon out here, even. Don't we usually see at least something, even if it's way off in the distance?"
"You can't see anything way off in the distance," Kouji pointed out. "All we can see is fog." He proved his point by narrowly missing a tree that seemed to have come up out of nowhere. He dodged it at the last possible second, and gave it a glare as if he suspected it of hiding from him on purpose. "Is anybody but me really starting to hate fog?"
"That is weird, though," said Tomoki. "Takuya's right. It's too quiet here. You'd think if there were any Digimon here, we'd at least hear them."
"I don't know," said Kouji. "It's like this fog muffles everything. I can barely hear our footsteps."
"Are we absolutely sure we want to do this?" asked Bokomon nervously. "I'm beginning to get a bad feeling about this place. Can we please go home?"
"Oh, come on," said Izumi. "Don't be such a coward, Bokomon! Honestly, you guys see a little fog on the ground and start letting yourselves get scared over nothing."
"I'm not scared!" said Junpei proudly.
She gave him a tolerant smile.
Neemon had stopped walking. He was peering off at the fog in his nearsighted way, scratching his head and looking puzzled. Of course, his natural expression was one of puzzlement, anyway, but the fact that he had stopped walking was enough to make Bokomon stop as well. He gave his sidekick an annoyed glare.
"What do you think you're staring at?" he demanded.
"That tree over there," said Neemon, pointing.
A few other people stopped to look, out of idle curiosity.
"I don't see a tree over there," said Tomoki.
"I know. It's not there anymore," Neemon replied.
"Then how are you staring at it?" Bokomon asked.
"I'm not."
"Then why are you - oh, never mind," said Bokomon in frustration. "Look, trees don't move, all right? Either there's a tree there, or there isn't."
"There was a while ago, but there isn't now," Neemon replied.
"It probably just disappeared into the fog," said Kouichi.
"Yeah, probably," said Takuya. "You know Neemon - he'd think something disappeared if you threw a blanket over it."
Neemon blinked. "You mean it doesn't?"
"This is getting to silly to keep talking about," said Izumi. She turned her attention back to the maps, while Bokomon caught hold of the back of Neemon's pants and began forcibly hauling him along behind him. Everyone else trotted after them, not wanting to be separated in this uncertain place.
"Are we looking for something in particular?" asked Tomoki, climbing on top of a stump and jumping down from the other side.
"A big rock formation," said Izumi. "If we've been going in a straight line, it should be right up ahead somewhere... the map says it's about three miles from the road."
"I'd say we've been that far already," Kouji said.
"How do you know?" asked Takuya. "Have you been measuring?"
Kouji gave his friend a withering look. "My karate instructor makes me run laps. I know how far a mile is by now. I'd say we've traveled about three and a half, maybe four miles by now."
"Really? Strange," said Izumi. "In that case, even if you're off by a little, we still should have seen them by now. I mean, you can't miss a range of rocks even in pea soup like this. Kouichi, are you sure we've been going in a straight line all this time?"
"Positive," he said. "Of course, it's possible that this compass doesn't work like it's supposed to, but it acted reliable enough while we were still on the open road."
"So unless digital miles aren't the same length as regular miles, something screwy is going on," Junpei finished. "Either that, or we're all just getting mixed up in the fog."
"Maybe we ought to backtrack," Tomoki suggested. "Maybe we did just miss everything in the fog. Maybe the rocks aren't as big as they look on the map."
"That's possible," said Izumi. "I know we're supposed to be exploring, but I really don't want to get into the parts that aren't mapped!"
"It would make more sense to stick to the parts that are on the map, anyway," said Kouichi. "I wouldn't hide something in an area I didn't know well, if I wanted to get it back again afterwards."
"Let's double back, then," said Izumi. "Why don't you take the lead for a while, Kouichi, since you've got the compass? This crazy thing is no help." She glared at the Star of Guidance, annoyed by its failure to fulfil its function. It went on sparking and flashing like a handheld Fourth of July.
The group turned around and prepared to retrace their steps. However, they had not gone very far when they walked into what appeared a large wall. It extended to the left and right as far as anyone could see - which was not very far, considering how dense the atmosphere was, but it was far enough that they couldn't have missed it the first time. Tomoki stepped cautiously forward and set a hand on it. It was cold, rough, and solid beneath his fingers. Moss and dry tendrils of vines clung to it, as if it had been there since time began.
"When did that get there?" asked Takuya. He kicked the wall. It remained steadfastly where it was. "It wasn't here ten minutes ago."
"This is weird," Junpei complained. "We're getting lost!"
"There has got to be a rational explanation for this," said Kouji. "We have not gone far enough to get this much off the track!"
"Maybe Neemon was right," said Tomoki. "Maybe things are moving around out here."
"That's impossible," said Bokomon. "Trees just don't get up... and..."
He trailed off. Just up ahead, a tree was rocking about on its roots. With a great heave, it uprooted itself entirely and began shuffling off into the fog, its branches rustling softly as it went. A soft tittering noise drew everyone's attention to one side, where a cluster of flowering shrubs got up and ran off, giggling. A few minutes later, a new collection of shrubbery flapped down out of the sky to take its place.
"Ooh, I don't like this at all," Neemon wailed. "This place is haunted!"
"It's not haunted," said Bokomon. "It's alive. I can't believe I didn't see it before..."
"Feel free to clue us in any time," said Kouji.
"Aren't you paying attention?" Bokomon replied. "It's obvious. The reason this forest seems so empty is because all the Digimon are in hiding - hiding in plain sight. The trees, the plants, the rocks... they're all Digimon. Woodmon, or Palmon, or Deramon, just pretending to be plants and things."
"So that's why the scenery keeps changing," said Takuya. "It's getting up and walking around... but... wait a minute. Doesn't that mean that this wall is actually...?"
The "wall" he'd been investigating twitched suddenly. With a great yawn, a section of it stood up, sleepily blinking a pair of eyes that had not been visible before. The creature turned ponderously around to glare at Takuya. It seemed to take a moment for the thing to realize what it was looking at, and then it scowled.
"Somebody 'sturbed my nap," it grunted. "Don' lika be 'sturbed."
"Uh-oh," said Junpei. "Rockmon."
"You woked me," said the Rockmon to Takuya. "Me don' lika be woked. Wut you gon' do about it?"
"Er... apologize nicely and promise not to let it happen again?" said Takuya.
That apparently was not what the Rockmon wanted to hear - either that, or its sleepy brain wasn't up to processing the idea. It lurched to its feet, disturbing a few of its fellows in the process, who also began waking up. They grumbled sleepily, obviously no happier at being awakened than the first Rockmon. One by one, they stood up and began stretching their limbs... and looking around for the source of the disturbance.
"I think we have a problem," said Kouichi. "Somebody tell me one of you guys knows how to deal with Rockmon!"
"Not without evolving!" Junpei replied.
"I don't think even if we evolved, we could deal with that," said Izumi.
The Rockmon were now lurching forward - slowly, just now, as they got their heavy limbs into motion, but they were gradually picking up speed. The one who had awakened first was taking its first steps toward Takuya, who backed away quickly.
"If anyone has any ideas, I'm open for suggestions!" he said, as he ducked under a swipe of its massive hand.
"I have one," said Kouji. "Let's get the heck out of here!"
He dove out of the way, just in time to avoid being stomped on by another Rockmon. He snatched up Neemon, who was still gazing at the Rockmon in an attitude that suggested he still hadn't worked out that the wall they'd been blocked by was alive. Kouichi rescued Bokomon, who was cowering in terror, and the two of them made a run for it. Behind them, they could hear the pattering of footfalls as the rest of the group chased behind them.
"Is everyone still back there?" Kouji called.
He received a chorus of agreement; everyone was following in his footsteps. Confident that his friends were close by, he picked up his pace. Soon the slow-footed Rockmon were left far behind. The humans went on a little further anyway, until they came to a clearing that was plainly clear of anything but moss, and even the fog was a little thinner than it had been before. They gathered there to collect their wits and wait for their hearts to stop pounding.
"Did we lose them?" asked Izumi.
They listened a moment. All was perfectly silent once more.
"Yeah, it sounds like we gave them the slip," said Takuya. "Good thing, too. Last time we had to mess with Rockmon, it took everything we had to get rid of them. I don't know what we would have done if Junpei hadn't... uh-oh."
"What do you mean, uh-oh?" Tomoki asked.
"I just looked around, and it looks like we're missing someone," said Takuya.
Everyone looked. Sure enough, there was a noticeable gap in their group. Junpei had disappeared.
Junpei sat up and spat out a mouthful of mud and dead leaves, and then spat some more as he tried in vain to get the moldy taste off his tongue. He had been keeping up with the rest of his friends just fine until his foot had caught on a root, sending him sprawling. He would have suspected that the root had simply been there, and he had missed it in his hurry and in the fog, if he hadn't heard something near by giggle and run off into the forest. He hoped that whatever it had been, he had hurt it as much tripping over it as he'd hurt himself when he fell on his face.
I have all the luck, he thought. First that Strikedramon, now this!
"Hey, guys, wait up!" he called, and began running again. He thought he could still hear their footsteps in the distance, even though the fog blotted them from sight. The further he ran, however, the fainter the noise got, until it faded out altogether. Still, he kept moving, certain that they had to be just up ahead of him, somewhere out of sight. Sooner or later, they would realize he wasn't with them anymore. They would stop and wait for him to catch up to him. They would never leave him behind in a place like this...
He stopped running. There was no sound anymore but a nearly inaudible dripping sound as condensed moisture fell from the leaves of trees.
"Guys?" he called. "Hey, guys... don't leave me out here..."
There was no answer. No one had heard him.
"Well, now what do we do?" said Izumi irritably.
Takuya shrugged. "Go back and look for him, I guess. He can't have gone too far, right?"
"In this mess?" Kouji said. "He could be anywhere by now! We could walk within ten feet of him and not see him!"
"Assuming we were being perfectly silent and tiptoed past him," said Kouichi.
"What if a Digimon got him?" asked Tomoki, eyes wide.
Kouji looked grim. "If he's hurt somewhere, he might not be able to hear us or call out to us... This is my fault. I was so worried about getting away, I didn't bother to make sure everyone was following..."
"It's not as if the rest of us weren't right there with you," said Takuya. "We were all in a hurry and we couldn't see very well, so don't go trying to pretend it's all your fault."
"I guess we'd better start searching," said Tomoki, looking speculatively back the way they had come. "I hope he hasn't gone too far off track..."
"I think the best thing to do would be to sort of move out in a spiral," said Kouichi thoughtfully. "If we can do that without getting completely lost."
"Too bad I can't evolve," said Takuya. "Flamon's got one heck of a nose. I bet he could sniff him out in no time."
"That's the last thing we need," Kouji said. "You'd run off and get lost, and then there'd be two of you gone."
Takuya shrugged. "I don't think I could do it, anyway. It's too wet out here."
"Oh, this is getting us nowhere," said Izumi angrily. She snatched up the Star pendant and glared at it. "Listen to me, you stupid thing! You're supposed to help us find things when we need them, and all you've been doing is sparking like some kind of deranged Christmas tree ornament! I don't know what your problem is, but right now, I don't care where those stupid Fabled Artifacts are! You're supposed to guide us to what we really need most. Right now, what we need most is to get our friend back, and I say you will do it! Do you hear me? Quit goofing off and show us where Junpei is!"
The Star's glittering slowly halted, and became a steady glow. A beam of light shot from it that cut through the fog, reaching far off into the distance. It pulsed a few times - rather impatiently, as if wanting to make sure everyone was getting the message. Then it faded away, leaving things just as they were before.
"Well," she said. "I guess we go that way."
Kouji looked at his brother. "Kouichi, did you get a fix on the beam?"
"Yeah. It's due north-northwest from here," Kouichi replied.
"Fine. You go ahead in front of us and keep us on course," said Kouji. "The rest of us had better stay close behind, so we don't get separated again."
"Maybe this will help," Tomoki offered. He rummaged in is bag and pulled out his trusty rope.
"Yeah, that's the ticket!" said Takuya.
They strung themselves out along the length of the rope, each keeping a firm hold on it. Bokomon and Neemon were forced to walk along in the rear, carrying the slack; they were too short to hold on to the parts that were being held above their heads by their taller human companions. It was an awkward way to travel, as they were forced to steer clear of bramble patches and anything else that the rope might snag on, but no one was willing to risk losing any more members of their party.
The further into the forest they went, the thicker and older the trees became. None of the children had seen trees like this since they had last visited the Forest Terminal. Like those arboreal giants, some of these trees were large enough to hollow out and turn into living quarters. The trees in the Forest Terminal, though, had possessed a lively air about them. They looked polished, somehow, as if they lived in an eternal spring of warm sunshine and cleansing rains. These trees had a more timeless air about them. Moss grew so heavily on them that they seemed more green than brown, and tendrils of vines and strange mosses hung from their branches, which themselves were thick enough to have made respectable trees back in Tokyo. The air seemed thicker here, not just with fog, but with age. The group found themselves moving a little slower, breathing with more difficulty. There was a feeling here that this was less of a forest, and more the place old trees came to die.
One of these behemoths, a gnarled specimen with a spidery mass of aerial roots at its base, was squarely blocking their path. It didn't seem to be as tall as some of the other trees nearby, but it was still quite thick, and no one really liked the idea of having to get so far off track by cutting a wide circle around it. Instead, they opted to clamber over its many roots, as close to the base as they could manage. It was a difficult walk, trying to cover the uneven and moss- covered footing when their hands were encumbered with rope, bags, and in one case, the Staff of Order. It got even more difficult when the roots began to move.
"Hey, hey, that tickles!" said an aged voice. "Who gave you permission to step on my feet, anyway?"
Everyone cried out as the roots writhed, bucked, and finally tipped them all onto the ground. They landed softly enough, thanks to the mounds of leaves that cushioned the earth, but they were still more than a little disgruntled at having been thrown off their feet by a tree.
"What the heck?" Takuya muttered.
He looked up. The tree was looking back down at them - only it wasn't really a tree, after all. It was a Cherrymon, which was just now blinking curiously as it studied these intruders.
"Okay, this is different," it said. "I don't think I've ever seen your kind around here before, and I thought I'd seen everything there was to see. What are you?"
"These," said Bokomon, drawing himself up to his full height, "are human beings from the Real World! I'm surprised you don't recognize them. After all, they are the Legendary Warriors who defeated Lucemon!"
"Is that so?" said the Cherrymon, sounding impressed. "Human beings, huh? Well, I'm impressed. I didn't think humans could even survive in the Digital World. I guess you just keep learning new things all the time, even when you're as old as I am - and I'm no sapling anymore, I'll tell you! I've been here a long, long time, I'll tell you that!"
"So I guess you haven't seen any other humans around here, huh?" asked Kouji. "We're missing one."
"No... no, can't say I have," Cherrymon said. "If one came by here, he didn't step on my roots like you folks did. I was sleeping until you came along. Have been most of the week, I think. Hard to say. Time goes by so slowly here..."
"I guess we'll just have to keep going, then," said Kouichi. "Sorry to bother you, Cherrymon."
He started to walk away, but a root swept by and nudged him back into place.
"Hey, don't rush off so fast!" Cherrymon said. "It's been a long time since I've had someone to talk to. I miss having someone to chat with. There hasn't been anyone here worth talking to since old TobuCatmon went away."
"You knew TobuCatmon?" asked Izumi. "The explorer? The one who drew these maps?"
"Yeah, that's the one!" Cherrymon replied. "He and I got to be buddies, way back when. He was a good sort of Digimon. I hated to see him go, but he had that cat's curiosity! I told him, this is no place for an animal Digimon like him, but..."
"Is there something dangerous here?" asked Tomoki. "Is it something we should know about?"
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe. Yeah, it might be a good idea to tell you... since you're here and all," said Cherrymon. "See, this forest... it's a strange place. It's been here a long, long time. It's one of the first places to be born in the Digital World. It's a... a sleeping place."
A flicker of recognition was running across Bokomon's face. "You mean... this is one of those places? The legendary resting places of the creators? I didn't believe they truly existed."
"Well, now you're in one," said Cherrymon.
"What kind of places are those places?" asked Tomoki curiously.
"Legend has it," Bokomon replied, "that the Digital World was created by four great Digimon of Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water. However, when they were finished, their strength was so depleted that they all fell into a sleep so profound that nothing can wake them, and whole centuries pass between their heartbeats. It's a popular story, but to my knowledge, no one has ever actually seen one of these sleeping Digimon."
"I've seen a sleeping Digimon!" Neemon piped up. "I see you sleep all the time. I tried to stay awake to see what I looked like when I was sleeping, once, but it didn't work."
"Nobody asked you," Bokomon said.
"Have you ever seen one of these sleeping Digimon, Cherrymon?" Kouichi asked.
"Who, me? Nah. I know better," said Cherrymon. "Nobody with any sense gets near the great ones. Even asleep, they're still a force to be reckoned with! They make weird things happen to anyone who spends too much time near them. That's why this forest is so dark and sleepy. This is the place where the Earth Digimon, Xuanwumon sleeps. Only plant and rock Digimon can survive very long here. Even if another kind of Digimon tries to live here, eventually, it evolves into a tree or a stone type. And even the ones who are like that naturally start to get sleepy and forgetful, after a while. They start becoming like the trees and rocks themselves. I think the only reason I've still got most of my wits with me is because I try to talk to everything that comes along. They keep me from forgetting that there's a world outside, beyond the fog. I try to keep them from wandering too far, if I can. I guess I think of myself as kind of a guardian."
"And that's why you were friends with TobuCatmon?" Izumi asked.
"Yeah, that's it. He took the time to talk to me - told me stuff that was going on in the outside world. He was a good friend... but his curiosity got the better of him. He had to try to go see the sleeping Digimon for himself. He never came back. Hmm... he left something behind, though. Told me to take care of it for him, and if I ever met anyone who could take it back to his home for him, to give it to them. Since you guys seem to know him, I wonder if you'd do me the favor and...?"
The group exchanged glances, all of them thinking the same thing: the Fabled Artifact!
"Yeah, we'll bring it back!" said Takuya.
"Wonderful! Just let me find it."
Cherrymon reached up and began rummaging through his branches, shedding a number of leaves and bits of bark. At last, he pulled down a carefully wrapped bundle.
"Here you go," he said. "TobuCatmon's personal journal. I tried to keep it dry, but it's tough to do in this damp."
"Personal journal?" said Takuya, squelching his disappointment.
"Yeah," Cherrymon replied. "He wrote down all of his thoughts and all his adventures in this book. He said he wanted his family to have it if something should ever happen to them, so they could have something to keep his memory alive. For all his curiosity, he really loved his family. He told me one time that of all the treasures and artifacts he found on his journey, the one thing that was worth the most to him was when he found his wife. He was always saying she was a treasure more precious than gold."
"More precious than gold, huh?" said Kouji. "Yeah, I guess that would be it..."
Takuya sighed. "I guess we shouldn't really have expected it to be a Fabled Artifact."
"But the Star said there's one close by!" said Izumi. "It wouldn't have been carrying on like this if there wasn't one nearby, would there?"
She held up the gem as proof... but even as she spoke, the light went out.
"Huh?" she said. "What happened?"
"Well, normally the light goes out when someone finds an Artifact," said Tomoki.
"But we're not looking for an Artifact right now," Izumi replied. "We're looking for..."
She stopped. She looked around, seeing dawning horror on her friends' faces.
"Junpei," Kouji finished.
Just a few minutes before, Junpei had not been doing much of anything. He was just sitting on a stump, his chin propped in his hands, and feeling thoroughly miserable. He had no idea what he was supposed to do next. Most of what he'd heard involving what he should do if he was ever lost in the woods had instructed him to pick one spot and stay there, hoping someone would come along to rescue him. He was sure his friends would be out searching for him, but what good would that do? There was no way they could comb this whole forest looking for him, and even if they did, the odds they would see him in this never-ending mist were next to nothing. The odds that they would find him before it grew dark, or before a wandering Digimon found him and took exception to his presence, well... he didn't even want to think about it.
I want to go home, he thought.
That wasn't exactly what he meant. He didn't want to go back to the place he lived, where his parents were and where he kept his collections of stamps and model trains. What he wanted was to be back where he felt at home, with his friends. He wanted to be with the people who made him feel like he had a place. Until he'd met them, he'd felt lost no matter where he was, and now that he was cut off from them in this strange place, he wasn't just frightened, he was aching with loneliness.
Wait. Was that a flicker of light? He'd thought he saw something.
"Hello?" he called. "Is someone there? Can anyone hear me?"
Dead silence. He must have been imagining things. He sighed and slumped over again, resting his chin on his hands.
What if they don't come back for me? said a nasty little voice in the back of his mind. They might decide I'm completely lost, and they'll never find me. They might think I've been eaten by a Digimon already. They might decide it's safer not to try to lose any more of them hunting for me. They might even think I've turned into Mushimon and gone wild. I might never see them again...
"No, no, no, no, no!" He shook his head vigorously. "They won't leave me alone here! They wouldn't! They promised they'd never leave me. They're my friends!"
There! There was a flash of light, and it was close at hand. He turned all around, trying to find its source, and his eye was caught by the chunk of grimy metal that was resting by his feet. He still had the peculiar lamp that he had found in the shed. He picked it up and stared at it critically.
"But you can't be lit," he said. "You're broken. You couldn't light up even if I had something to light you with."
He realized he was being very stupid, talking to a lamp, but there was no one else to talk to, and he wanted companionship. With nothing better to do, he took out one of his handkerchiefs and began trying to rub some of the dust and cobwebs off of his new acquisition. It was amazing how easily they came off. Beneath the dirt, he was surprised to find that the lamp wasn't made of iron or any such dull metal, but something that glittered gold.
"I guess we're kind of alike," he said. "Left all alone to gather dust, nobody ever thinking you're important enough to bother with... until someone comes along who can see past your dust and realize you're good for something. That's what a real friend is all about. Those guys really turned me around. I don't know how I ever got by without them..."
He trailed off, because the lantern was now shining softly in his hands. It wasn't a golden light, like firelight, but something warm and pinkish. If feelings had colors, it would have been the color you felt when someone you cared about had their arms around you, telling you that everything would be all right. Even as he noticed it, the light went out again. He stared at it a moment longer.
"This... this is not an ordinary lamp, is it?" he said.
Well, no wonder Izumi's Star of Guidance had been going crazy! They had been carrying a Fabled Artifact most of the day without even realizing it! He thought that if he had been a Star of Guidance, he would have been doing a fair bit of sparking in frustration, himself.
"What do you know!" he said. "I found the Light of Love all by myself!"
He looked over the lamp with renewed appreciation. Brushing some more cobwebs off, he uncovered more details. The outside had a curling pattern that made him think of twining vines, in keeping with the design used in the Pool and the Star. There was, however, one detail that caught his interest. The door on the front had a peculiar set of shutters made of glass and wire fixed to it, wedged so tightly in place by years of grit that he had not realized at first that they were moveable. When he cleaned them up, however, he discovered that they would swivel on a pair of pins. Separate, they were nothing but flower petals, but they could be snapped together to form the shape of a heart. He gently nudged them in place, just to see what would happen, but the Light stayed dark.
"Why does it only light up sometimes?" he wondered aloud.
He considered a moment. Three times, he had seen the lamp light up. What had been happening in those three moments that was different from any other moment?
Those were the times when I was thinking about my friends...
That made sense. If this was really the Light of Love, wouldn't it naturally respond to those kinds of thoughts? But he'd been told that the Light had been corrupted. Had Bokomon been wrong, or was there something else at work here? He turned the Light over in his hands, looking at the dust and cobwebs and general disrepair it had fallen into.
"This thing has been alone a long time," he said, thinking aloud. "It's not just corrupted; it burned out entirely."
Love, even the twisted love of blind obedience and servitude, needed companionship to survive. A person couldn't understand love if they were completely alone all their lives; all they would ever know was the impulse to satisfy their own needs. Even a naturally caring person would turn cold if they were left by themselves for years, with no one to care for or to care about them. Perhaps, just as a normal lamp needed oil for fuel, this magical lamp needed something to fuel its light, too.
So it needs love to burn. Could I light it again? Would it do any harm to try?
Cupping the Light carefully in both hands, bowed his head, and closed his eyes, searching his mind for images that could be used to rekindle the fire. He thought of his mother baking cookies and his father teaching him to build models. He though of his friends, and how it had felt to realize, finally, that he did have a place in the world among people who cared about him. He let his mind linger on each of them in turn: fun-loving Takuya, always ready for an adventure, always willing to protect someone weaker than himself; Kouji with his proud, no-nonsense ways, and his unshakable loyalty to those he cared about; gentle Kouichi, so willing to see the good in everyone; Tomoki, everyone's little brother, with his unquenchable curiosity and ever-ready optimism. His mind lingered longest on Izumi, and that complicated ache he felt when she was around, a feeling comprised partly of joy that someone like her should consider him her friend, and partly of wistfulness that she thought of him as only that. He even brought up images of Bokomon and Neemon, two little creatures with great hearts who had followed their human companions through so many dangers on the strength of friendship. He thought of his love for the Digital World itself, a place that was home in a way Tokyo couldn't quite match. And if that wasn't enough, he added the memories of the first times he had begun to realize that maybe he wasn't just a waste of space, that maybe there was something good about him that was worth liking - the first time he had ever been able to love himself.
He opened his eyes - and almost closed them again at the shock of the brightness. He tried looking again, cautiously. The Light was now glowing so brilliantly that its metal case was almost invisible against the general glare. It even seemed to lift the fog a little. Dazzling as it was, he discovered that his eyes could bear it, and he found himself relaxing a little, marveling at its beauty. There was something heartening about it, something that lifted his spirits the longer he looked at it. It was reassuring, full of the promise that as much as he loved all the people he had thought of, they also loved him - as a son, a friend, a hero... and maybe someday, possibly, someone would love him as more than a friend.
He could have happily remained there all afternoon in rapt contemplation, but he was interrupted by a distant sound. A distant sound shouldn't have bothered him much, except that this particular sound was coming rapidly nearer, and it was the steady whomp-whomp- whomp noise that was made by something so large that you could hear its footsteps displacing air as they fell. Junpei couldn't imagine what such a thing would be, and he wasn't looking forward to finding out.
Maybe it won't see me. Maybe if I sit really still, it will just walk right past me...
Who was he trying to fool? He was still sitting in the middle of a dark forest holding a light bright enough to blind someone with. How could he possibly expect anything not to notice him? He should have realized that tinkering around with strange lights was liable to draw all kinds of curious beasties, and he decided a bit belatedly that he should have left his experimenting until things were a bit more secure. Of course, he had Bokomon's word that the Light would drive off anything that was truly evil, but he wasn't fully prepared to put his trust in that, and at any rate was not eager to meet something that whomped under any circumstances.
While he was still dithering about what to do and trying vainly to shut the Light's stuck shutter, the noisy thing continued to stride closer. He could feel the ground beneath his feet shaking, and as he looked up, he was able to see a great shadow striding through the fog. It wasn't until it had drawn quite close that he could hear a voice - no, several voices - calling over the noise of the thing's motion.
"Junpei! Hey, where are you? Can you hear us? Junpei!"
"Guys!" he called back. He got up and began capering around, waving the Light over his head, and generally acting like a fool and not caring one whit. "I'm over here!"
The whomping thing came closer until he could see that it was, in fact, a huge tree that had gotten up and was striding along on its roots. Looking up, Junpei could see his friends clinging tightly to its branches as their unique mode of locomotion swayed like a ship in a storm. The tree stopped moving as it reached the clearing, and everyone slid down from its boughs and ran over to greet their friend.
"Hey, he's okay!" said Takuya. "We thought you were monster chow for sure!"
Junpei rushed over to greet them, and seized the first person who came near enough (who happened to be Kouichi) into a bear hug.
"I am so glad to see you guys!" he said.
"We're glad to see you too," said Kouichi, "but if you don't mind, I'd kind of like to keep all my ribs in one piece, so..."
"Heh heh, sorry," said Junpei sheepishly.
"You need to be careful. You don't know your own strength!" Kouichi replied.
"Sorry," said Junpei again, "but I really am glad to see you guys! I thought for a while I'd be sitting here forever!"
"We were worried about you!" said Izumi. "And here you are, perfectly fine. Who gave you the nerve to be all right when we're all worried out of our minds about you?"
"Uh... I don't know how to answer that," Junpei said.
Takuya laughed. "Don't try to think about it too hard - you'll strain your brain. Izumi's just freaking out because she asked the Star where you were, and when the light went out, she thought you'd been eaten by a rabid plant or something."
"There's no such thing as a rabid plant, Takuya," said Kouji.
"You know what I mean! Besides, around here, there might be!"
"Well, I'm sorry I scared you guys," said Junpei, "but I really have been fine the whole time. And hey - I found the Light of Love, too! I ought to get bonus points for that!"
"So that's why it went out," said Tomoki. "It wasn't because something happened to Junpei. It just stopped going crazy because he finally figured out where the Fabled Artifact was."
"Yeah, right here in my hand the whole time," Junpei said.
He gave a significant look to Kouji, who said, "Well, how was I supposed to know? It looked like junk to me!"
"What matters is, we found it," said Kouichi, "and found you... and found TobuCatmon's journal, too."
"Then I guess we've done our good work for the day," Junpei said. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready to get out of here!"
"Yeah, same here," said Takuya. "All this fog is getting me down. Hey, Cherrymon, do you know the way out of here? I have no idea where we are anymore!"
"You're actually not that far from the road," Cherrymon replied. "I don't mind carrying you guys the rest of the way, though. Feels kind of good to get up and stretch my limbs again."
He lowered his branches enough that they could scramble back into place, and everyone found a branch to cling to as he got moving again.
"I'm not sure about this," said Junpei uneasily, as he watched the ground swaying beneath them.
"Just don't look down," Kouichi advised.
"I don't like this either," said Bokomon. "Is it possible to get treesick?"
Fortunately, the ride didn't last very long. Cherrymon could cover a considerable distance with his ungainly rocking stride, and he soon brought them to a place where the mists thinned and the more wholesome-looking part of the forest was visible.
"This is as far as I go," he said. "I don't know my way around beyond the mists, so I'll leave you here. Just keep going straight, and you should reach the road in a few minutes."
"Thanks for everything, Cherrymon!" said Tomoki. "If we ever come this way again, we'll try to drop by and visit!"
"I'll be around," he said. "Nothing much ever changes in the Misty Wood. Nice meeting you folks! Good luck with those Fabled Artifacts!"
They bid goodbye to the friendly Cherrymon and set off in the direction he had indicated. Within five minutes, they were back on the road again, heading for the inn. They returned to find a number of Tailmon, Plotmon, and Nyaramon anxiously awaiting their return.
"We're back! Did you miss us?" Takuya called jauntily, when they were in hailing range.
They were immediately rushed and surrounded by a crowd of chattering small Digimon.
"You made it back! You're safe! Did you see anything? Did you find anything?" they cried, bouncing up and down in their excitement.
The chief innkeeper came to gently shoo them away.
"Welcome back," she said. "We're all relieved to see you made it safely."
"It wasn't so bad in there," said Tomoki. "It's just really easy to get lost. Everything moves around."
"Did you find any word of Great-grandfather?" she asked.
"Yeah," said Takuya. He handed over the wrapped bundle. "We met an old friend of his while we were in there. He gave us his journal. Your great-grandfather wanted you to have it."
The Tailmon accepted the packet reverently. She unbound the ties that held it shut and carefully lifted the cover. Everyone crowded around to see what was written on the pages.
"I recognize some of these stories," she said. "This is the journal of all his adventures... Thank you, travelers. I'm sure Great-grandfather would be happy to know that his precious journal was safe with his family again."
"I'm sure he'd be even happier just to know you all are safe and doing well," Izumi said. "He said himself that his family was more precious to him than gold."
The innkeeper lowered her eyes a moment, momentarily overcome by emotion. When she collected herself, she said, "Is there anything we can do to repay you for this?"
"Aw, we don't need anything," said Takuya.
"Except maybe something to eat for lunch," Junpei added. He caught the looks he was getting from the others and said, "What? It's lunchtime. There's no point in trying to live off nuts and berries when we're at a perfectly good inn already."
"I guess there's sense in that," said Kouji. "Come to think of it, I didn't see a lot to eat back in the forest... and we've got to live off something."
"In other words," said Kouichi, "you're hungry too."
The innkeeper laughed. "I'll see what we can find."
The Tailmon and her family provided an excellent meal for everyone, and the wandering warriors and their companions were able to eat their fill while they listened to the innkeeper reading her great-grandfather's adventures out of his journal. Already they were planning to make copies of it, and Bokomon offered to return one day to help them with the job. When at last they parted company, it was with many exhortations to return to the inn someday and share some more of their adventures. As they set off down the road again, Junpei took one last look back over his shoulder at the Digimon innkeepers, who waved a final goodbye. He smiled. They had all done good work today. They had found a dusty lantern, an old book, and most importantly, some new friends - nothing that looked like anything impressive, but in their own way, each was truly a treasure without price.
I guess old TobuCatmon knew what he was doing, when he took up this adventuring stuff, he mused. You never know what you'll find...
And with that encouraging thought in mind, he turned his gaze forward to the road, and whatever else might lie ahead.
The adventurers were able to travel a long way that day, owing largely to having actually had a good night's sleep previously, and to having a few more good meals than they'd had the day before. Now the valley was behind them, and below them, and they were scaling the last ridge of mountains before they reached the flatlands. Everyone was eager to keep going, but night had fallen, and the moon was already riding high. They reluctantly chose a campsite and set about scrounging for something to eat. The inn's food, while good enough for guests, wasn't easily transportable (it was difficult to put stew in your pocket and save it for later) so they were reduced to eating whatever could be found. At first, it looked like they might have to go hungry that night, but in the end, Neemon sniffed out a patch of edible mushrooms that was half-buried under a heap of pine needles, and the group was able to pick enough to feed everyone adequately, if not completely satisfy them.
"Hey, what's wrong with you?" said Takuya, who was cheerfully toasting one of these frilly fungus over the campfire. "Is yours rotten or something?"
Kouji threw him a sour look. "I don't like mushrooms."
"What's wrong with mushrooms?" said Tomoki. "I think they're pretty good! They'd be even better if we had a pizza we could put them on, though."
"I don't like them," Kouji repeated. "They smell funny and they taste funny and they grow on dead things."
"I figure, if they're going to eat me when I'm dead, I might as well eat them while I'm alive," said Junpei philosophically. He bit a large chunk out of the mushroom he'd been cooking, ignoring the look Kouji gave them.
"Eat your vegetables," said Izumi in a mock-serious tone. "They're good for you! They'll make you grow up big and strong!"
"Oh, shut up," Kouji muttered. He took a reluctant bite of the mushroom and grimaced. "Mushrooms aren't really vegetables, anyway."
"Put up with it," said Bokomon, who didn't seem all that thrilled about the idea of mushrooms for dinner, either. He cast a look at Neemon, who was shoveling them down as fast as he could get them into his mouth. "Tomorrow we'll be in a real town, and you can get anything you want."
"Sounds like a great idea to me," said Kouji. "How far away are we now?"
"I believe we've reached the highest part of the pass," Bokomon replied, "provided my sense of direction isn't completely off. It shouldn't be much further before we can look out over the plains."
"I'd like to see that," said Takuya. "I've still got some energy to burn before we settle down for the night. How about we look around and kind of scope things out a bit?"
Kouji agreed that this sounded more appealing than sitting around trying to eat mushrooms, and of course Kouichi had to go anywhere Kouji did. Tomoki likewise was eager to satisfy his curiosity about the realms beyond, and Junpei didn't want to be left out. Only Izumi said she'd had enough walking for one day, and said she would stay behind to guard their things and keep Bokomon and Neemon company.
"Besides," she said, "someone needs to be free to come to the rescue if you guys get into trouble."
They agreed with this plan, and they all set out in different directions to see what they could find. Izumi remained where she was, staring pensively into the fire, and occasionally feeding a twig into it just to have something to do. Bokomon had taken out his book and was busily writing down what he had learned that day regarding the Misty Wood and the sleeping Digimon. Neemon had stuffed himself with mushrooms until he was ready to burst, and was now dozing contentedly near the fire. All was quiet for a while, save for the crackle of burning wood, the scratching of Bokomon's pen, and Neemon's snores. Then there was a rustle in the woods, and Izumi looked up to see Junpei hurrying back, smiling rather smugly.
"Hey, Izumi!" he said. "You've got to come and see what I found!"
She gave him a suspicious look. "This had better not be some scheme to lure me into the woods with you."
"It's not! I promise it's not. Cross my heart!" he said. "I just found something and thought you'd like to see it, that's all."
"Do you think our stuff will be safe if I leave?"
"Sure. We won't be gone long. I just want you to look really quick," said Junpei.
"Well, all right. But this had better be good!"
Junpei beamed. "Right this way!"
He led her into the forest, picking his way carefully through the underbrush and occasionally pausing to make sure they were going the right direction. After a few minutes of this, the ground began to slope sharply upwards, and Izumi found that she was nearly crawling on her hands and knees, at times, just to keep going.
"Don't worry," Junpei assured her, as he offered her a hand to help her over a particularly rough patch. "It levels out pretty soon."
"I hope so," she said.
"Trust me!"
Sure enough, they reached the top of the hill, and the path became nearly flat. Junpei led her around a collection of boulders, and she found herself suddenly looking out at a star-filled sky. The trees had come to an abrupt end, and the two of them were standing on a little cliff on the side of the mountain. She could see all the way down the side of the mountain, and beyond that, a vast plain of smooth sandy earth. In the moon and starlight, it gleamed like silver, or snow, or stardust. Off in the distance, a collection of lights twinkled softly. Looking up, she could see a vast dome of sky, with stars looking so close she felt she could reach out and touch them, and over everything hung the three moons.
"What do you think?" Junpei asked.
"It's beautiful," she said.
She took a seat on a conveniently flat rock, and Junpei watched her as she looked out over the scenery. He stood a little apart from her, not wanting to break the spell that seemed to have fallen over them. She looked so beautiful in the moonlight. Her eyes seemed deeper than ever, and her golden hair gleamed like a halo. He found he did not want to be near her. She was so perfect and graceful, he couldn't bear the thought of polluting her with his blundering presence.
I shouldn't have done this. I don't deserve to be seeing this...
Then she turned around and smile at him, the playful, amused smile that she seemed to direct at him so often, and was no longer an angel come to earth, but just a pretty girl in blue jeans with wind-ruffled hair.
"Aren't you going to join me?" she said. "There's room on this rock for two."
He couldn't think of any reason why he should disagree, so he went and sat down next to her. There was just barely enough room on the rock for them to sit by each other without touching. Once he was settled in place, she went back to looking at the stars, but he looked at her. He was so sensitive to her presence right now that he swore he could feel the air currents from her movements, though it was probably just the touch of the night breeze that made him think that. If he could have found the words, he would have told her how much he loved watching the way the wind brushed her hair over her back and shoulders like caressing fingers, but he couldn't, so he stayed silent.
"Junpei," she said after a while, "can I ask you something?"
"Sure, Izumi, you can ask me anything."
"Remember when you looked in the mirror, and you asked it who the fairest of them all was?"
"Yeah, I remember that."
"What were all those images? I can place some of them, but some things I don't really remember."
"Oh. Well... one of them was the first time I saw you, back in the train station," he said. "I was looking around wondering what I was supposed to be doing, and I saw you. You looked... I don't know, kind of lost and lonely, and I knew what it was like to feel lost and lonely, because I felt the same way. I decided I wanted to go wherever you went, because I felt like maybe... maybe we'd understand each other."
"You never told me about that," she said.
He shrugged uncomfortably. "You never asked."
"What was the other one - the one with me on the bridge?"
"Oh, that. It was nothing. You probably don't even remember. I was just walking home that day and saw you on the bridge and called to you, and when you turned around and saw me, you smiled at me. Just at me, like it made you happy just to see me. It probably didn't mean much to you, but I lived off that for a week."
"And what about the white dress?"
Junpei blushed. "Just my imagination."
"You really are a hopeless romantic," she said.
"I know I am."
"Oh, come on! You don't have to sound depressed about it. It's a good thing."
"Maybe," he said. "Anyway... those memories are my favorites. They're what I think about when things are going wrong. That's how I found the Light - thinking about all of you guys."
"Mmm," she said. "I have memories like that, too. And now I have a new one."
"Oh?"
Izumi didn't answer. She got to her feet and began walking off. The world felt a bit chillier to Junpei, now that she was no longer sitting next to him.
"We ought to get going," she said. "The others will be worried if they come back and I'm not there."
"Right," he agreed. He hauled himself to his feet and began following her.
She doubled back and started walking toward him again - so she wouldn't leave him behind, he supposed, or because she needed him to show the way back. He was utterly surprised, therefore, when she stepped right up to him and set her hands on his shoulders.
"We won't tell them where we were," she said. "This is just for us."
While he was still boggling at this unexpected contact, she made a quick movement, and for a split second, he felt a touch as light as the wind on his lips... but it couldn't have been the wind, because the night air was cool, and this touch was warm as summer sunlight. Then Izumi ran off, laughing, while he was left to stand thunderstruck as he realized what had just happened.
She kissed me! She kissed me! Izumi really, actually kissed me! And then: I didn't even get a chance to enjoy it...
"Hey wait up!" he called, running after her. "Come back here! You can't do this to me! That's not fair!"
His only answer was another peal of laughter. Junpei rushed after her, left once again scrambling ineffectually to catch the wind.