I am sooo freaking proud of this chapter, you have no idea. I worked mine arse off with the whole theory thing in here, take a lookies.
The Digimon Adventure 01
Episode #17
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
"Okay, I think I have a plan worked out." said Nomon to the rest of the shackled Digimon.
"You THINK?!" spat Hawkmon. "Oh yeah, we're gonna like THINK our way out of this hell hole."
Nomon rolled her eyes and sighed. "What ever happened to the gnawing?" she asked sarcastically. Hawkmon abruptly shut up. "Are there any Digimon in here that are partners to a human?" she asked. There were no replies. "Anyone at all?" The silence continued.
"What was that?" whispered Lopmon.
"What was what?" asked Usamon.
"That! That noise. Shhh ... listen." said Lopmon again. All that was quiet, but as they strained their ears, they could make out a faint buzzing noise, like a bee that's trapped in a glass jar.
"Sounds like Zero One code." said Hawkmon. "It was used during the war and for primitive communication."
The tapping sound continued, and Nomon finally asked, "What does it mean?"
"SOS." replied Hawkmon. "Everyone must keep as quiet as possible. I need to find out where the buzzing is coming from." For a moment the buzzing stopped, and then there was the hollow tapping sound of Hawkmon's claw against the stone wall. This continued for a few moments and finally Hawkmon said, "Well, apparently we have a human partnered Digimon gagged and tied up in a bag, and he's somewhere in this room."
Lexxy, Mel, Charpimon, Ryoshi, Vishomon and Wormmon, have been walking through a field of wheat (corn for you Asians) for about an hour now. It was ready for harvesting. In fact they were now drawing near to a group of farmers hewing down the golden stalks. Lexxy was walking like one in a dream, slow and warily. Mel kept up the rear, arm around Lexxy's shoulder, and in front of the group was Charpimon, Vishomon, Wormmon, with Ryoshi leading.
"If me memory serves me, there should be a small farmin' village off yonder, and we could probably find a hospitable soul there." said Vishomon pointing towards a group of huts.
"I like it here." said Wormmon. They walked along in silence for a long time, and the sound of sickles meeting wheat stocks became louder and louder.
They soon found one farmer, a Guilmon wearing a wide, round, banana leaf hat. "Halloo." said Vishomon. "We are looking for a place to rest tonight, especially for the tall girl back there. We had a bit of a run in with a few Lynxmon."
The Guilmon's face fell, but he pointed them on to the village, saying that they could probably find someone there. He scratched his head as they walked by, and then started his work again.
As they walked into the village, they were met by young Guilmon and a few Gigimon. After asking at a few doors they were able to get a place to sleep, in the straw loft of a barn. The village dai-fu was called for, and they laid Lexxy down on the straw best they could.
A small hooded and cloaked Elecmon walked in, carrying with him a bag of herbs. First he looked at Lexxy and asked her a few questions. He finally concluded that she was incredibly spent of energy, and that she's lucky that she was still conscious. He prepared a re-energizing drink and told her to just relax. Then with a warm grin added, "And use your friends wisely, I'm sure that they will fetch you whatever it is you need, no matter the hour." Even Lexxy managed a weak smile.
That night, they could hear the laughter and singing from the houses of the village. The Guilmon's funny voices rose and fell, and then a song would begin, followed by more laughter. Just then, the door to the barn opened, and a female Guilmon wearing a simple yellow apron came in carrying a tray of bread, butter, a bit of meat and water.
"Here's some food, seeing as how you've been traveling." she said in her high Guilmon voice, as she set the tray down on a wooden table.
"Thank you very much." said Ryoshi hopping down from the straw loft. Though simple, the food tasted excellent. That night, as the group was sleeping, Mel and Charpimon stayed awake keeping a watch over Lexxy. They could hear her soft breathing as she lay in the straw. Charpimon and Mel sat a few feet away, looking out of the large opening in the straw loft. The moon was above, full and bright. It was slowly moving across the night sky along a literal moon beam track that glowed softly in the dark. It kind of looked like a rail-road track, minus the rails. If you listened carefully, you could hear the soft hum and clank as the moon moved from one tie to the next.
"Hey Charpimon?" asked Mel softly, turning to her partner.
"Yeah?"
"Why are the stars and the moon all perfectly arranged and lined up?" she asked.
"Navigation and time purposes!" said Charpimon.
"Oh." said Mel. "The stars we have on Earth, or, uh Eeaarth, are different, but they're used for the same purposes. And they're not organized as nicely as yours. There's a lot more too."
"Well, I've heard stories like that, but isn't it so much more easy to have them orderly and distinctive? For example, The top ring of stars is our compass, and the bottom four are our calendar. Actually, to say that the last two are rings would be incorrect, they're really two circles of constellations. See? Our year has ten subdivisions, or what you would call months, and 36.5 days per month. It's really funny when we have the 0.5 of a day, because it's like having a day in fast forward." Charpimon giggled.
"So, the second ring counts your days, the third counts your months, and the fourth and fifth count your years, right?" asked Mel.
"Yeah, the Constellations represent the 14 Elemental Guardian Dragons. Kind of like the Chinese years. The top ring is made up of the 11 Common World Elements, the bottom, the 3 Uncommon Space Elements. See? When two of them line up like that, it means that the new year has begun. This year is the year of Niji Kami ni Kurayami Kami, or Rainbow God over Dark God." said Charpimon, pointing to each star pattern in turn.
"okay, but how do know the year isn't those two over there? Or there?" asked Mel pointing to a few other constellations.
"Because everything is read in the north. All those that align with the northern star are the current dates." said Charpimon. "Even our Moon and Sun rise in the north."
"Oh, I guess that makes sense. Our Sun and Moon rise in the east." she said. She took a small notebook with a lock on it and started to write something in it. "But what about the Digimon in the southern hemisphere? They wouldn't be able to see the stars if the constellations are in the northern hemisphere." said Mel.
"What's a hemisphere? And what are you writing?" asked Charpimon.
"Huh? Oh, a hemisphere is half of the earth. There's the eastern and the western hemispheres, or the northern and the southern. They are both shaped like halves of oranges or melons. From what you know about my world, I would think that you would know that ... And I'm taking notes about the stars and the sky, this is my Little Book of Notes. Consequently I have the entire Japanese Phonetic Alphabet in here." said Mel, smiling like a cat.
"Melons?" asked Charpimon. "Oh yeah! But, the Digital world is flat." said Charpimon.
"What? Oh Ha ha ha ... !" laughed Mel. Charpimon started laughing too, it was rather funny after all. After they had finished giggling, Mel noticed Charpimon was crying as she looked up at the moon. "Charpimon? Are you okay?" she asked with concern sounding in her voice.
"What? Oh, yes I'm fine. I just ... get so teary eyed whenever I look up at the night sky, It is so truly wonderful. The stars, the moon, the rising and setting sun work so perfectly together. On especially beautiful nights you can hear the songs of the free spirits, the Mäbu Lätu. They are what hold this world together and create a perfect balance. They are stewards of life and death, our whole existence depends on them, the Mäbu Lätu." Charpimon said. "The stars are not only practical, but mystic as well. They are representative to time, life, death, and resurrection. Life runs in patterns and circles, the old nurturing the new, the sun setting as the new moon rises. Such is our way, our Tao, our life." Charpimon looked up at the sky. "Truly wondrous."
Rosie had not been able to sleep, so she wandered the halls of the mountain fortress. The floor was smooth beneath her bare feet, and she was comfortably cool in the long passageways. On the walls were maps, charts, and other wall decorations such as tapestries and paintings. One wall that she came to was hung with a complete map of the Digital World. It looked very old, yet its colors weren't faded. In fact, if you looked closely, you could almost make out tiny Digimon, and they were moving ...
"Fascinating, isn't it?" said a voice from behind Rosie.
"Oh!" she jumped. "Sorry, I didn't hear you coming behind me." said Rosie, straightening up. She had been crouching on the floor, looking at a lower continent.
"Few Digimon, or Humans, do." said Kurayamimon, smiling. "It's one of the best maps of the Digital World in ... The Digital World." he said with a chuckle. "There are many ancient spells put on it. Here, you can use this glass to get a better look at things." he said as he handed her a magnifying glass.
"Oh, thank you." said Rosie taking it. She looked through it at the map, and found that she could see very tiny Digimon moving about in the forest, in the ocean, everywhere in fact. "Oh wow! This is so cool!" said Rosie. "I bet we could find all our friends this way."
"True, but it is more complicated than that." said Kurayamimon. "They could be anywhere, and this map is huge. And then there's the other one ... " He snapped his fingers and the Map dissolved into blackness. Then it re-appeared, and this time everything was backwards. Where there was land on the other map, there was now sea, and vise-versa.
"Oh." said Rosie, rather dejectedly. "It was a good idea when I had it."
"Yes, and there aren't any other looking glasses than that one that you have." said Kurayamimon.
"Oh well." she handed him the looking glass. "I'm sorry, I never really had a chance to thank you for your hospitality and the kindness that you showed us." said Rosie. She bowed. "Thank you very much Kurayamimon."
"It is my pleasure Rosie." said Kurayamimon smiling. "It's late; shall we retire?"
"Yeah. I am tired now. Good night." said Rosie.
"Good night." said Kurayamimon.
"Funny ... he didn't even mention the rings ... " thought Rosie.
To Be Continued ...