The Birds and the Beetles
Miyako Inoue was simultaneously anxious and enthused. Koshirou had invited her for a trip to the Digital World. The purpose he had left unclear, but an invitation was an invitation nonetheless. She had her D3 in hand and Poromon hovering over her head. At the moment, the computer lab was empty. Then she heard the door creak. It was him. The moment was here.
"Miyako," Koshirou said when he walked in, dressed in his green school uniform, "do you have everything?" She excitedly nodded in turn. "Good," Koshirou replied, "Digital Gate, Open!" He held his basic Digivice to the computer screen and created the portal to the world of data. Miyako knew this feeling. She felt herself being swept away by the computerized wind and into the Digital World. Poromon held on tight.
When her senses from the whirlwind trip had returned, Miyako looked down at herself. Red pants, a vest, a helmet, goggles….she had transformed into her Digital set of clothes. Poromon had evolved to Hawkmon, and her D3 was still intact. Everything was in order. Koshirou and Tentomon looked at the girl anxiously checking herself over. "Are you ready to begin yet?" asked the brown-haired boy, "We've got to leave if we're going to make it there by sunset."
"Ready," Miyako shrugged.
"What's bothering you?" Hawkmon asked as he hovered alongside his partner, "I've never seen you get this nervous, except when Ken's around."
"Koshirou asked ME to assist him," Miyako whispered, "not Daisuke or Iori or anybody else. ME. And I know why."
"That would be?"
"I'm the smartest one of the group. I have to prove that I can live up to his expectations."
"You're going overboard with this, Miyako…"
"Hawkmon, let's go!"
Miyako and Hawkmon charged up ahead. Koshirou started to explain why he had called her to the Digital World today. "I've discovered a spot that has recovery data in great amounts," he said, "It's almost like a restoration spot. Think, if we knew of that, we could easily recover between major battles with Arukenimon and Mummymon. You seemed like the type to help me study it. The path is this way."
"Step lively," Tentomon said, "A horde of Monochromon ran through this area just the other day."
"I think they did more than run…" Hawkmon commented.
A normally clear forest path had been overrun with trees and rocks of all sorts. Holes were interspersed at random places on the ground, and the only way to go was whichever way the path dictated. "We continue onward, I guess?" Koshirou asked. Miyako nodded and followed.
The two stepped over fallen trees and leapt over small crevasses along the way. Hawkmon and Tentomon had the luxury of flying, something the humans couldn't do. It was then that they came to one obstacle that couldn't be so easily avoided. A mass of vines was strewn across two trees in such a way that it appeared like a wire mesh. Hawkmon flew up to the vines.
"Have no fear, Miyako," he said happily, "Feather Slash!" Hawkmon sent two of the feathers from his crimson plumage, their razor-sharp edges gleaming in the sunlight, towards the vine wall. No effect. Koshirou stepped back and looked at the complicated system of knots before him. He pulled out his trusted Pineapple laptop and entered the thorny puzzle into a program.
"These vines are supported by the central one which reinforces them," he explained. Miyako adjusted her glasses and listened intently. "So if we untangle this one here," he pulled on a vine segment sticking out near the center, "the entire thing should collapse." And collapse it did. As Koshirou, Tentomon and Hawkmon advanced onward, Miyako stood back.
"Hope I can help," she thought, "I'm just as smart as he is." She followed after the older boy and the two Digimon.
The path was fairly straightforward for awhile. Miyako hung close to Koshirou without venturing too close; she had failed to solve the vine wall, so his opinion of her may have lowered after that. Tentomon and Hawkmon felt no change in the road, but the two Chosen Children were once again forced to stop abruptly when the ground suddenly became no ground at all. A steep precipice with a deadly drop was before them.
"This isn't too bad," Tentomon commented, "A quick jump or two…"
"We can't fly," Miyako snapped, "We'll have to make a bridge."
"Good idea," Koshirou said, "What do you suggest?"
"Well…" Miyako removed her glasses and began to think, "What if we cut down two of the trees and built a bridge? Tentomon could use his Petit Thunder and some cables to ensure stability."
"I like that idea," Koshirou nodded, "Go for it."
"Feather Slash!" Hawkmon's plumage felled two trees, which Miyako and Koshirou immediately lay across the gap. Cables, easily found below after the Monochromon stampede, were wound around the tree trunks and magnetized with Petit Thunder. Miyako and Koshirou crossed their makeshift bridge and continued down the path towards the restoration spot Koshirou was leading her in the direction of.
Both parties said nothing, until Miyako felt something shake underneath her feet. The last of the pitfalls they were being forced to endure had materialized in the form of a literal pit. Hawkmon and Tentomon hovered above as their Chosen Children struggled to break free of the steep walls keeping them confined.
"This is quite the predicament," said Koshirou nervously.
"We've made it this far!" Miyako exclaimed, "Surely we can make it out."
"Well, I have an idea," Koshirou said, "If we can lessen the slope of the pit, we may be able to scale our way out."
"And I was thinking of providing us with something tense to hold onto," Miyako answered, "HAWKMON!"
"Yes, Miyako?" the bird answered.
"Throw us a line!"
A segment of the vines from the wall, ensnared in Hawkmon's talons all this time, was thrown down. Miyako threw it upwards and tethered it to a branch sticking from the ground. Koshirou began digging with his hands until a path was cut in the soil. He began to scale up the wall; Miyako grabbed his shoulders and held onto the vine. It was an uphill struggle in the truest sense of the word. Their hearts were beating and their bodies straining to get out, but when their hands touched the solid ground, a heavy sigh of relief passed over them.
From there on out, it was a simple and short walk to the restoration spot.
"It's beautiful!" Miyako said.
"Thank you," Koshirou replied.
The restoration spot was a glowing circle on the Digital World ground with multicolored data streaming out of it. Hawkmon, Tentomon, Miyako and Koshirou stepped into the spot and felt their forms being recharged. All the exhaustion, physically and mentally, of the trek had washed away.
"I can't thank you enough," Koshirou answered, "I never would've made it to here if you weren't with me."
"I wouldn't have come if you didn't ask," Miyako said sweetly.
"Hope we can work together again sometime."
Far above, Hawkmon and Tentomon looked down at the two.
"Quite the combi, eh?" Hawkmon asked.
"Indeed," said Tentomon, "the best pair of brains in the Digital World."