The Digimon King and The King of Gondor
Chapter 15 Taming of Gollum
The Hobbits Frodo and Sam were still lost in Emyn Muil, but they were being followed by Gollum and the three Red Monitamons following them both. And back in the Dead Marches, Lopmon, Chibitortomon and Dondokomon are surrounded by dead bodies in the water. What is going to happen next?
XXX
The towering rocks of Emyn Muil continued to provide an impenetrable and frustrating barrier to the two Halfling which were currently attempting to navigate their way through the gigantic maze. They'd been here for who knows how long, and yet they were still seemingly no closer to finding their way to the edge of the rocky landscape.
Both were becoming very tired, and it was about this time that both Frodo and Sam wished that they owned a pair of shoes. The tough hairy feet of Hobbits were more than enough to allow them to walk comfortably in most environments, but there were so many jagged stones and bits of rock underfoot here and they were both getting tired of being pricked in the sores of their feet.
Both of them were still very much shaken up by their earlier encounter. Frodo had long been aware that Gollum had been doggedly pursuing them, eager to once again regain the One Ring, but that had been his true encounter with the creature that his Uncle had met on his great adventure to the Lonely Mountain so long ago.
As Frodo walked, he remembered what he had told Gollum from Bilbo's account of his journey. He remember Bilbo's description of Gollum's appearance and behavior giving him the shivers, for Bilbo had described Gollum as one of the most wretched and terrifying creatures that he had met. Gollum's gangly body and odd habit of talking himself made him almost scarier in some ways than the Trolls or Goblins which he had also had to face, who had been more... scary.
Gollum had just been way creepy.
Frodo had never thought he would actually encounter the creature himself, and he had always been profoundly glad of that. But now he had. Last night had been the first time he'd seen Gollum close up, heard him speak, felt his long-fingered hands trying to either take the Ring away or choke the life out of him, or both.
Frodo shivered. This was a far cry from his sheltered life in the Shire.
Sam had heard the story of Bilbo's adventure many times himself, and he was wondering something similar. He had always been enthralled by what Bilbo had told him, about the Elves especially, and he had part of Bilbo's legacy. And seeing the stone Trolls which Bilbo had spoken to when they had been alive had been wonderous too, even if only for a moment since Frodo had been suffering at the time.
But this was one part of Bilbo's supposed legacy that he could have quite happily missed out on. He could still feel the marks in his neck where Gollum had bitten into him, thankful for his cloak softening the blow or he might be in some serious trouble right now. Still, he had washed the marks at the earliest opportunity, who knew what disgusting things that villain had coated on his teeth.
Now, though, the Hobbits were confused and worried for another reason. While neither of them had brought it up, preferring to press on in silence and finally find a way out of this forsaken place, both of them were silently wondering what in the world is that strange red and blue, metal-covered thing that had saved them from Gollum could have been. Neither of them heard of anything like it before, and both of them had paid attention to the tales of strange creatures told by Gandalf and by the Dwarves that Bilbo often had for a company.
Never had anything remotely like that ever been mentioned.
Yet it had seemed friendly enough. And it had been able to speak, even though it had no visible mouth. Still, they had left it behind at the point, though Frodo had to admit that they needed to work on their skills. Both of them knew that the swiftly concocted story they made up to satisfy the creature and get away from it had been hopelessly bad and they were pretty sure the creature hadn't bought it at all, even though it hadn't followed them.
Now, the two of them were attempting to make their way down a slope of loose rocks and it was tough going for both of them, though Sam especially because of his large and heavy pack. Every few seconds one of them would lose their footing and slide a way down the slope, wincing as the small rocks grazed at their ankles and the backs of their legs.
Frodo paused about halfway down to catch his breath, trying to find a secure foothold to at least stay still. Sam slipped past him several feet before coming to a stop himself, one arm flailing in the air as he tried to steady his momentum before he grimaced and said. "You know, Mister Frodo... I really think that we might have had a better time just going around instead of through this place."
Frodo nodded with a grimace. "Probably a faster time too. And there would be less places for any enemies to jump out at us."
Sam looked perturbed. "You think that Gollum will try again?" He asked, his hand staying towards his short sword as he looked around him in search of the small creature.
Frodo mimicked his silent staring for a moment and then he mumbled. "I know he will, Sam. He hasn't tracked us all the way from Mordor to Moria and then back here to give up so easily. You have to admit, there were points when he almost had us before."
Sam nodded. "Well, next time we should use swords from the start." He said. "That's our best advantage over him. He doesn't have one after all."
Frodo agreed, continuing to stare outward and shivering. He could never shake the distinct feeling that he was being watched, which had grown significantly ever since Gollum's attack. For all he knew, Gollum was out there somewhere, his large and staring eyes fixed on Frodo, knowing that this was the Hobbit which is carrying the Ring, and already planning on how to seize the moment and get it back what he thought belong to him.
It was giving him far more unease than normal. This was the first time since Bree, that Frodo had to face anything without the back up of some expert magic user, sword wielder, master archer or axe swinger. Not since the Black Riders had the Hobbits been forced to face anything alone, and now there were less Hobbits than before.
Still, it wasn't as if Gollum was as bad as a Black Rider, was it? The Black Riders had been the most terrifying things that Frodo had to face himself so far. Even the Watcher in the Water and the Cave Troll had not been as bad as them, though the Balrog had come close and probably would have been scarier if Frodo had come closer to it when it had attacked.
Frodo felt a small amount of confidence return to him. If he could escape from the Black Riders and Cave Trolls then he could deal with Gollum, couldn't he?"
Still, the lack of the reassuring presence of Gandalf or Aragorn meant that confidence didn't rise by a great deal.
"Come on, Sam." He said. "Let's try and stay on the higher ground... keep away from the foggy areas as much as possible. As long as we head towards those mountains, we know we're at least going in the right direction. He nod towards the distant towering peaks that surrounded their destination of Mordor.
"Trouble with that is, Mister Frodo." Sam sighed as they began to make their way back on down the slope. "This place seems to be trying very hard to turn us around. None of its level what so ever. No wonder nothing lives here."
"Maybe that strange red and blue creature lives here." Frodo suggested, skidding on down past Sam slightly. "What do you think it might have been?"
"Don't have a clue, Mister Frodo." Sam grimaced as sharp bits of rocks covered his feet. "Never heard of anything of its kind in any of the stories. Looked a bit one of those beetles I find quite often when I'm doing your gardening, but at the same time nothing like them. Accept for the horn."
"I wouldn't be surprised if it did live here, whatever it is." Frodo agreed. "It would explain why we've never heard about anything like it. Nobody would be able to find it in a place like this."
"Must be a lonely life if that's the case." Sam said as they neared the bottom. "I feel a little sorry for it, truth to be told. It saved us from that Gollum as soon it found us and we just left it alone again."
"We did say thank you though." Frodo pointed out.
"I suppose." Sam said. "But maybe we could have been a bit nicer. Didn't seem to mean no harm."
"I agree." Frodo replied. "But we can't let anyone come with us. Not anymore. This is our task alone now, Sam. Even if it didn't want to hurt us, I wouldn't want to put it at risk. That's why I left the others behind."
Sam nod unhappily, following Frodo down. "I know, Mister Frodo. I know. But don't expect me to go leaving your side anytime soon. Even if you try to leave, I will follow."
Frodo smiled. "Everybody needs a true friend, Sam. I'm glad I have mine with me now."
"Wonder if that red and blue creature had any true friends?" Sam murmured.
"We'll probably never know." Frodo said.
Sam sighed and turned back to look up at the tall slope that they had just climb down. "What say you we don't try navigating another one of those for a while, Mister Frodo."
"Agreed." Frodo nod.
As Sam turned back, something suddenly caught his eye and his head snapped around quickly. For a brief moment, less than half a second, he thought he had seen a flash of red moving slightly on one of the distant clifftops. He paused and stared, eyes narrowed, searching for any sign of anything moving, but there was nothing. Just boulders and thin rolling fog, like normal.
Frodo noticed that Sam was lagging behind and turned back with a frown, before looking off the same direction.
"What is it?" He asked.
Sam shook his head. "Nothing." He replied. "Just my imagination. Thought I saw something red moving really fast for a moment there but it was only out the very corner of my eye." He sighed and turned back. "Must be seeing things. Lack of good food can do that to you, I reckon."
"We have Lembas." Frodo pointed out.
"And not much else." Sam countered.
"True." Frodo nod.
As the Hobbits moved on, Sam pondered more on what he just seen, or possibly seen, and finally came to the conclusion that it was his mind playing tricks on him. It couldn't have been Gollum. There was no part of Gollum that was red. Could it be that strange creature they encountered. It must have been some trick of sunlight mixing with fog or something. Yes, that sounded about right.
Sam put it from his mind and focused more of finding the way out of this place, like he was meant to.
XXX
Watching from the shadows high above, Gollum let loose a low snarl. He was keeping so low to the ground beneath him that he was practically on his belly, moving along the cliffs like some giant bow-legged spider, creeping over and around boulders with ease.
"Nasty little Hobbitses." He growled quietly to himself, as he usually did. "They think they can keep us from our birthday present, precious. Thieves. Walking towards the Dark Place on their hairy legses and keeping the precious all to themselves, they are. Yes, precious. Sneaky little creatures, they are. Gollum, Gollum."
He paused behind a boulder and watched them traverse through another ravine, looking around them wary for any sign of the creature they now knew to be following them. As Frodo's gaze turned in his general direction, Gollum slipped stealthily back behind the boulder.
"But now there are no nasty Elves or Big Men with their brutish hands and slippery swords to look after them. All alone they are now. Soon, we shall take it back. It's ours. It has always been ours. It is not for Hobbitses or Dark Lords. It is ours."
And then Gollum's bizarre habit of asking himself questions and then answering them began to shine through, his voice softening and then growing harsher within each internal exchange.
"And what will we do with them when we gets it back, precious?" His good side asked himself.
"Then we shall let them knows us. Miserable, we have been, without it. We shall make them miserable too, before we eats them." His bad side answer.
"Is we going to make them hurt?" His good side asked.
"Yes, precious. Gollum. We shall make them suffer. We shall break them, bit by bit, and let them bleed, make them suffer, until they begs us to finish them. They will plead to be eaten. No riddle games with this Bagginses. We shall squeeze their neckses until they gasp and retch like fish out of the water." His bad side said.
"Is that a little bit too much? They were not the ones who took it from us?" His good side asked nervously.
"But they keeps it from us now. And we know that the one who carries it is also a Bagginses. Baggins took it from us and we shall take it back from a Baggins. It is... what we have always wanted since it was taken." His bad side said with a growl.
"Yes, yes, yes. When shall we take it? We must go for it now!" His good side agreed and asked.
"No, not yet, precious. They are looking for us now. They know that we are here, watching them. We must be careful. They have little swordses of their own. We must surprise them, like grabbing a fish from a stream." His bad said.
"Yes. There is two of them and only one of us. What shall we do about the second one?" His good said asked.
"The fat one is stronger, but he is easy prey too. But as long as he is there, he will get in the way. We shall get him first." His bad side answered.
"But he is not the one with it, precious." His good side pointed out.
"No. But he was always stopping us before just when we was about to reclaim it. We rid of him first, then even if the other one gets away, we can find him easy. And then, he will be alone. He will be... vulnerable. And this time, we shall surprise them. They will not surprise us the second time." His bad side said.
"And there will be no big blue and red things to get in our way this time too."
Gollum snarled at his own declaration as he remembered how Ballistamon had thrown him away and then pinned him to the ground with a heavy foot. "No, my precious. There will be no surprises this time. You will see. The precious will be ours again before the yellow face goes down and the white face comes up. And then, we will never let it go. Never."
"Shall we set a trap?" His good side asked.
"Yes. Yes, we shall." And he cackled quietly to himself as he moved on, keen to overtake the Hobbits below and find a good place for his planned ambush.
XXX
Meanwhile, on the other side of the ravine which the Hobbits were currently traversing, the three red Monitamons were still waiting and observing. Having given up on trying to find their way back to Ballistamon, they had decided to attempt to follow the Hobbits, hoping that they would lead them to a way out of this maze of rocks.
And also to keep an eye out for their safety.
But so far, it seemed that the former option was not going to happen anytime soon. The Monitamons might not be geniuses, but they had figured out that these little children, were just as lost as they were themselves, and were struggling to find a way out. They could tell both from snippets of conversation they overheard when they were close enough and their general demeanor.
And, while the Hobbits had failed to notice Gollum, even though they knew he was almost definitely following them, the Monitamons had indeed spotted him. Though it looked like Gollum, in turn, had not yet spotted them.
After all, they were much better at being ninjas than they used to be. Granted they still weren't as good as the green Monitamons had been when they were part of the war effort and the red Monitamons themselves had gotten better, but the red Monitamons weren't quite as dunce like they used to be.
Though they still had their moments.
"Looks like that thing is going to strike again soon." Monitamon R2 observed, as they crept along, watching Gollum's progress. "He's speeding up now. Looks like he's trying to get ahead of them and maybe set a trap."
"That guy creeps me out." Monitamon R1 shuddered. "Look at the way he moves. There are no Digimon with hands and feet that move like that are there? If there were then we would know about them."
"He is weird." Monitamon R2 agreed. "What do you think he even is? He's not a human, is he?"
"I don't know. All I know is that he's not a Digimon." Monitamon R3 said. "But that doesn't matter right now." He sprang onto a rock and posed dramatically. "Ballistamon charged us with watching out for those guys down there, so we will..."
"Sssh!" The other two Monitamons hissed, grabbing him and pulling him back down behind cover, right as both Gollum and the two Hobbits down below halted and turned to look in their direction with bemused looks. Seeing nothing and noticing his quarry had stopped, Gollum quickly continued on and, after a moment so did the Hobbits, though they kept throwing glances back towards the Monitamon's hiding place.
"Are you mad?" Monitamon R1 hissed, removing his hand from the speaker that functioned as the Monitamon's mouth. "We're not supposed to let anybody know that we're here, remember."
"Sorry." Monitamon R3 rubbed the back of his TV set sheepishly. "Got carried away. King Shoutmon and Sorcermon weren't here to give a dramatic speech so I thought I'd give it a go."
"I wish that King Shoutmon and Sorcermon were here." Monitamon R2 muttered. "Or anyone else actually. They would know what to do, wouldn't they? About that creature over there."
"Well, we have to try and come up with something ourselves since they're not here." Monitamon R1 sighed. "If that thing tries to attack those guys, then we have to do what Ballistamon did before and stop it from hurting them somehow. Our powers have improved a little recently. I think that we might be able to take it."
"I hope so." Monitamon R2 agreed. "Come on, quick. It's getting away now."
The three Monitamons quickly followed, dashing between the rocks and peering out in attempts to keep themselves hidden while keeping both of their separate quarries in view. It was relatively easy for them to do, since none of them appeared to consider looking their way, but Gollum was beginning to get ahead of the others.
"Quick." Monitamon R1 suggested. "We shouldn't lose sight of him. I'll move on ahead, and you guys keep an eye on those two guys down below. But let's try and stay in range of one another, okay?"
The other Monitamons nodded, they had no desire to be separated from the other two at this point. After all, they were the only ones that the others had at this point. To find themselves alone would be downright terrifying.
And all the while, Frodo, Sam and Gollum alike remained oblivious to their small tagalongs. But the Monitamons were becoming increasingly sure that Gollum was going to attempt to make his move soon, and when he did... well, who knew what was going to happen?
XXX
"I think we picked the wrong path, Mister Frodo." Sam sighed as they continued through another ravine. "We haven't found any way of even getting back up to higher ground for over an hour now. And I don't know about you but there's been so many twists and turns in this thing that it feels like we've been completely turned around."
"I know what you mean." Frodo agreed. "And we have no way of knowing if we have been turned around because we can't see anything useful."
"Maybe we should have asked that red and blue thing for help after all." Sam said wistfully. "It might have known a way out of this place."
"Perhaps." Frodo agreed, turning back to his companion. "But the Lady Galadriel told me that we would have accomplish this task alone."
"That may be, Mister Frodo." Sam nod. "But we can't accomplish the task if we don't know where we're going."
Frodo sighed, reaching down to rub the bottom of his sore foot. "We have no choice but to keep going. Every moment counts in getting out of this place now. we've been in here for too long and the enemy grows stronger while we wonder around lost." And he set off again into the ravine.
"I know." Sam confirmed, stepping after him. "And I'll be glad to put this creepy place behind me. It's too still and quiet for my liking. Doesn't feel natural."
Frodo laughed dryly. "The place we're going will be much worse than this, Sam."
"True. But hopefully they'll be a nicer bit in between." Sam murmured.
Frodo resisted the urge to snort as he carried on walking. They continued in this manner for several minutes before Sam finally felt the need to restart the conversation and said. "Do you think that we've lost that Gollum by this point?"
"I highly doubt it, Sam." Frodo called back. "Bilbo told me that he was an expert at being stealthy. He used to hunt and eat Goblins in the Misty Mountains. He could be anywhere around here."
"There's a pleasant thought." Sam murmured, looking up at the cliff tops warily. "How long do you think it will be before he...?"
The rest of Sam's sentence was cut off when, with a retching snarl, Gollum sprang out from behind the boulder that Sam had just walked straight past like a panther bounding out of the tree and slammed his full bodyweight into Sam's back, planting himself onto the backpack like a cannonball. The wind was knocked out of Sam instantly and he thudded to the ground with a slam that bruised his ribs and pushed the rest of the air from his lungs, leaving him gasping like a fish out of the water.
Gollum's clammy hands seized him by the back of the neck and constricted his airway, while Frodo spun around at the sound of the noise, eyes widened in horror as he saw his traveling companion in the clutches of their enemy. Frodo quickly drew his sword, not willing to get into another wrestling match like last time, and rushed forward, but Gollum was quicker. Keeping hold of Sam with one arm, he lashed out his other hand to grab a chunk of rock and throw it.
The rock slammed Frodo in the gut and he gasped, buckling over and clutching at his stomach, Sting gripped loosely in his hand. Gollum seized the moment and sprang off Sam, crashing into Frodo and send him rolling away. Despite this, Frodo still managed to raise it to strike, but Gollum's hand shot out and seized Frodo's own before he could do anything else. Gollum pushed himself further upright and hurled Frodo to the side with strength that belied his wiry body.
Frodo's head slammed slightly against the cliff wall and he dropped, momentarily stunned. Gollum's swift desire for the precious overwhelmed him and he was to abandon his previous plan and go for it now, but Sam had scrambled back up by this point and drawn his own sword. He was still heaving for breath, but he dashed forward with a yell at the attacking creature.
Gollum whirled around and snarled, going back to the original plan of disposing of Sam first, charging forward to confront him. Winded as he was, Sam's swing was far more sluggish and mistimed than it might otherwise have been and Gollum easily ducked under it and catapulted himself forward, shoulder slamming into Sam's gut and throwing him off his feet to crash onto his back. Breathless yet again, Sam could squirm feebly as Gollum's hands found his throat and tightened, rotten teeth clearly visible as he leer into Sam's face.
"Fat one is the first to go." Gollum cackled, more to himself than Sam. "He is no match for us and when he is dead, there is no one left to protect the one with the precious. Yes, yes. Feast on the Hobbitses today we will, precious. We wonder if they taste better than nasty Orcses."
Sam was beginning to black out and his struggles were becoming weaker. Nearby, Frodo clutched at his head, seeing stars, but nevertheless scrambling to pick up his sword attempt to get over and use it on Gollum, but he was stumbling wildly, unable to balance properly and his head pounding.
Gollum was nearly beside himself with glee at the prospect of finally killing the Hobbit. But his excitement was destined to be short lived, because at that moment something plummeted down from above and crashed squarely into the top of Gollum's head with a loud thunk. Gollum screeched and automatically reeled away, hands losing their grip on Sam's throat as he collapsed sideways, clutching at his scalp and trying to figure out what had just happened.
"Ouch." Said the small, red thing which had been what had dropped down, and was now pushing itself back up to its feet. Frodo, who could now see better again, stopped to gasp at it pushed itself up. It was small, even by Hobbit standards, coming up to perhaps just beyond the Hobbit's knees in terms of height, if that. And it's head was completely square, or possibly cubed. It didn't even have a face, it just had a blank side of the cube where the head should be. Frodo couldn't even begin to comprehend what he was currently looking at.
"Well, that's one way to interfere." The thing said somehow despite the fact it didn't have a mouth. "Fall off the cliff top and bonk your opponent on the head. Did the King ever do that?"
"He jumped off MailBirdramon once and whacked Olegmon in the head." A similar sounding voice was heard, and Frodo look up to see two other identical looking creatures, bounding down the ledges what looked like with ease. "But he never fell off something to do that."
"That ledge had came loose." Complained the one on the ground. "It wasn't my fault."
"What... what is going on?" Frodo blustered, looking at the three of them incredulously.
"Oh yeah. Hello." One of the two on the ledges waved. "Sorry to bust in on you like this...?"
"Don't you mean drop in." Another muttered.
"But we thought that you might need some help dealing with that g... look out!"
The one on the ground whipped around just in time to see a recovered Gollum springing at him with coiled muscles like an angry snake. The strange creature sprang upwards and out of the way as Gollum spun around and attempted to swipe him in the air, though the creature managed to twist to get out of harm's way.
Gollum landed on the ground with limbs splayed, hissing furiously through what teeth he had left, while the red creature landed not far away, the other two bounding down to a lower level. Gollum was seething, and he snarled at all three of them, causing them to take steps backwards fearfully. Clearly none of them had ever gone up against something like Gollum before.
"What is it now, precious?" Gollum hissed, his fingers moving up to touch the raw place on top of his head where the creature had landed its cube head. "We has been interrupted again. But they shall not interrupted again. But they shall not interfere. Not this time. We will get it back!" And he threw himself forward and bounded up onto the cliff face beneath the creatures, scrambling up towards them and clearly out for blood.
The creatures squealed and jumped back, avoiding Gollum's furious swing, but the twisted former Ring Bearer was far from done and threw himself after them. One of them hurriedly cupped its hands together and cried. "WATER DRAGON!" Gollum found himself very surprised to find a small spurt of water being shot into his face from nowhere. It didn't physically hurt him, of course, but it did cause him to lose his grip in surprise and tumble back down the cliff wall.
Cat-like in his landing, Gollum easily flipped onto his face before he hit the ground. Emboldened, the other two of the three creatures stepped forward to the edge of the ledge. One of them hurled down a small fireball, while the second one sent out a jab of what looked like a very tiny lightning bolt.
Gollum avoided the fireball with ease, but he was zapped by the electric attack and let loose a cry of surprise. Again, he wasn't particularly hurt by the attack, but it was a shock in both senses of the world. Gollum snarled, frustrated, but the sound of movement behind him cause him to turn sharply, and he saw both of the Hobbits were now back on their feet. Sam still appeared slightly winded but now he was visibly angry and was more than capable of fighting, and Frodo had a look of solid determination on his face.
Both of them had their swords drawn and were dashing towards him, seemingly with the intent to use them.
Gollum decided that this wasn't worth it. Not yet. He had waited so long to regain his precious that he could wait a bit more and his ambush had been ruined by those strange creatures. Acting quickly with astonishing agility for someone of his stature, Gollum sprang onto a nearby boulder and took a flying leap onto the other cliff wall and scrambled up with intent to escape.
"Get back here you!" Sam yelled. "Get down here and fight fairly, coward."
Gollum stopped halfway up the wall and turned to glare down at them. "Filthy little Hobbitses!" He screeched. "They is the ones that fight unfairly with their stabbing sticks. We will get it back."
Both Gollum and the Hobbits were completely taken aback when the three red creatures bounded across the canyon and up the wall right past Gollum so quickly that they were nothing but series of red blurs from ledge to ledge. Before Gollum could even think about moving off again, all three of them had sprang past him and raised their stubby arms up in front of them.
"WIND WHEEL!" All three of them cried, spinning in a circle at the same time to each generate a small wind out of nowhere, combining the three together into a large wind which buffeted at Gollum's face. Unprepared for this as he was, Gollum lost his grip and went plummeting back down the ravine once again.
He landed with a thump once again on his feet and immediately tried to scramble away, but before he could do much about it he was suddenly seized by the arms by both Hobbits. There was a brief struggling match between them but using their superior weight and teamwork, the two Hobbits managed to haul Gollum upright and slam him against the wall, leveling both of their swords so that the points where right beneath Gollum's chin.
Gollum went very still almost instantly. He was so gangly that the tendons in his neck were easily visible and he pushed himself back and away from the sword tips.
"Yes! You got him!" Cheered one of the red creatures as they landed nearby. "Well done you guys. We did it!"
"Hey, maybe we're not so bad after all." Another one agreed.
"Wait until we tell the King and the adviser about this." Chuckled the third.
For their part, Frodo and Sam ignored this exchange. It was clear that the red creatures weren't a threat to them at present, but Gollum was which meant that he was a priority.
"Got you, you villain." Sam said through gritted teeth, his throat still in pain from where Gollum had strangled him. "You won't be able to squirm your way out of everything else."
Gollum wisely held his silence. Sam looked only moments away from doing something drastic.
Frodo couldn't help but feel of accomplishment in this. Yes, they had some unexpected help and Gollum's attack had been far more coordinated than his last attempt, meaning that they might have lost if that help had not arrived, but subduing their first enemy since the separation from the Fellowship gave Frodo a little help for the future.
"So, what are we going to do with you then Gollum?" Frodo asked.
"Nice Hobbit." Gollum gave what was probably an attempt at a disarming smile, but it just came off as a pitiful grimace. "Hobbitses aren't cruel like nasty Elves and Men. They could just let us go and we would never trouble them again. Yes, precious, we wouldn't."
"I find that hard to believe." Frodo raised a brow. "We know why you're here. You've been following us across several countries, I've seen you several times since the Misty Mountains. And I know why you're following me. You won't ever get it again, Gollum, but I know that you won't give up if we just let you go. You'll just keep following us."
"We should just stick him now by my reckoning." Sam said harshly.
"Sam!" Frodo looked across at his friend in alarm.
"I didn't say we would, Mister Frodo." Sam grimaced. "I'm just saying we should. It's what he deserves. He's a murderer and a sneak. I don't rightly know if I could do it if I tried but... well, he's had it coming to him for a while is all."
Gollum suddenly wailed piteously, his head pressing as far back against the wall as possible and letting out a scream of despair. Both Frodo and Sam had to stop themselves from flinching. Gollum sagged back against the rock and sank down against the ground, both Hobbits keep their blades firmly pointed at him.
"Well we can't kill him now, he's an unarmed prisoner." Frodo said. "Gandalf would never kill a prisoner, and neither would Aragorn. It wouldn't be right."
"Then what are we supposed to do?" Sam asked, with grimace on his face. "And be quite, would you!" He added sharply to Gollum, but Gollum refused to stop shrieking at the top of his lungs, his body going almost completely flaccid as he wallowed in his failure and self pity.
"Allow me." One of the red creatures brightly said, dropping onto the floor next to Gollum. Frodo and Sam looked startled and wary, but as the creature turned to look at Gollum, or at least they assumed it was looking aat Gollum since it didn't have a face, it place a hand right at a point in Gollum's neck. Gollum's wailing instantly stopped and with a strangled gasp he went completely limp, lolling against the rocks and staring sightless at nothing.
Frodo and Sam momentarily stepped backward in alarm, leaving Gollum a golden opportunity to leap up and escape, except that he didn't. He just lay there, seemingly dead to the world.
"Yes!" The small red creature celebrated. "I got it right. I've been hoping for a chance to use that technique."
"What did you do?" Frodo asked in alarm.
"I knocked him unconscious by pressing against a specific nerve in his body which will temporarily paralyze him. He should be out of it for about ten minutes or so before he comes around again. It was a technique taught to me by one of the more experienced ninjas but it's quite difficult to use against most Digimon, and I've never had the chance to try it before." He said.
Frodo and Sam just stared uncomprehendingly and the red creature just signed. "It might be best to restrain him before he wakes up." It suggested. "Do you have a rope or something?"
"Rope?" Sam said. "Oh yes, I have rope. Elvish rope." He looked excited at the prospect and heaved his pack off his back to search for it.
"Who are you?" Frodo asked, as Sam search in his pack, looking at the three identical creatures standing by the limp Gollum. "And for that matter what are you? You're not the first creatures that we've stumbled upon while amongst these rocks which we've never seen or heard of before. And curiously on both occasions they happened right after Gollum attacked."
"Yes, we know that." One of them raised its hand. "Er... we're called Monitamons. We don't really have different names, we're all just Monitamons, and we are Digimon."
"Digimon?" Frodo frowed. "Wait... that creature from before. The red and blue, metal beetle. He said that he was a Digimon. And he said his name was... oh, I've forgotten."
"Ballistamon." Said another one of the Monitamons. "Yes, he's a friend of ours. And we're all Digimon."
"But you can't both be the same thing, can you?" Frodo looked totally confused. "You're too different. Or are you young Digimon while he's an older one or something?"
"No, it's nothing like that." One of the Monitamons popped up, that particular one is Monitamon R3. "That's just the way we Digimon are. We can come in just about any shape or size. The only thing that is the same about all of us and the thing which makes us Digimon is the fact that we are made of data instead of... what you guys are made of?"
Both the Hobbits were staring, Sam holding a coil of the Elvish rope loosely in one hand. "I'm sorry?" Frodo asked. "You're made of... what? I don't think I've ever heard that word before."
"You haven't?" Monitamon R2 asked, suddenly looking very worried despite the fact he still had no face. "Oh, that's not good. We must be lost if nobody here knows what data is."
"Ballistamon thought that we were no longer in the Digital World, didn't he?" Monitamon R3 said worriedly. "What if this really isn't the Digital or Human World? What if we ended up stranded in a completely alien place with no way back."
All three of the Monitamons looked terrified, shivering on the spot and threatening to fall over due to how nervous they were. As Frodo looked down at them, he felt some slight pity for them well up inside him. Half of the things they were saying were completely passing by his understanding, but if he got the idea of what they were saying, they were hopelessly lost far from home, with no way of knowing where home was or where anything was in this place. Ballistamon had said that he didn't know where anything was either.
"Well, there is another one of you Digimon running around this labyrinth somewhere." Frodo suggested. "Perhaps you could try and find him if you say he's your friend."
The Monitamons had the grace to look a little embarrassed, looking at each other nervously before Monitamon R1 coughed and said. "Erm... well, actually we were there with Ballistamon when he first met you guys last night. We were traveling with him together, trying to find out where we were when we heard you being attacked and went to investigate."
"Where not much good at fighting you see." Monitamon R2 said. "That's why we didn't show ourselves earlier. We're much better at being sneaky and spying and scoping places out than we are at fighting."
"Wait a minute." Sam said suspiciously. "If you were there the first time... then does that mean that you've been following us for the part of the day?"
Now the Monitamons all looked really shifty. "Erm... yes." Nod Monitamon R1.
"So you were watching us the whole time?" Frodo asked in alarm, his hand reaching up to press against his chest protectively and stepping back from the three of them, looking suspicious.
"Well, yeah." Monitamon R3 said. "We're really sorry for following you, but Ballistamon was worried about you, he thought that you were in some sort of trouble, and it's part of our group's beliefs that we always help people who need it. Plus he thought you could be attacked again by this guy." He jerked an arm at Gollum.
"At first we were just going to follow you for a while." Monitamon R2 promised. "Make sure you were alright and stuff. But then... er... none of us could remember the way back to Ballistamon after a while. We were lost on our own and... I was scared."
"We were all scared." Monitamon R1 confirmed.
"So since we had no idea which way to go, we decided to keep following you to see if you would lead us out of the rocks and also to keep an eye out for attacks by this guy like Ballistamon wanted us to." Monitamon R3 finished. "We're really sorry for sneaking around behind you but we didn't want this guy to be prepared for us if he found you. We saw him following you quite some time before. So, please forgive us."
The three Monitamons clasped their hands together and looked piteously at the Hobbits and both of them were rather surprised to see small images appear on the blank faces, which looked like giant eyes which were tearing up as if they were going to cry at any moment.
What they said did reassure Frodo somewhat. It didn't look like these creatures could possibly be minions of Sauron and they didn't seem to know about the Ring, but the fact they had been able to follow him so easily, as had Gollum, made him feel a little uneasy too. But mostly, he just felt sorry for them. If they were lost in a place they didn't understand... then they were not so different from the Hobbits themselves at this point.
Sam on the other hand, was more suspicious. "Hold on." He said. "Shouldn't you have gone back to try and find your friend when you realized you were lost?" He asked. "It's what I would have done."
"Ballistamon will be alright." Monitamon R1 replied. "He's more than capable of taking care of himself against many things. Besides, the other members of the Fusion Fighters would never leave the side of people who could be in trouble. It's not what we do."
"Our catch phrase is, we can't turn our back on you" Monitamon R2 said proudly, tapping his chest with a fist. "It applies to anyone with a good heart who is in trouble, and even to people who don't have a good hearts if they're in danger sometimes."
"We wanted to be like them." Monitamon R3 finished. "We wanted to help protect people in trouble on our own for the first time."
Frodo's doubts about these creature's allegiance had been mostly dissuaded by this point. He found it very hard to believe that these creatures would be servants of darkness. But still, he treated them with an air of caution. They were too strange and there were too many unanswered questions surrounding them for him to treat them any other way. But that didn't mean he couldn't be friendly."
"It is nice to meet you then." He said. "Thank you very much for saving us from Gollum. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't turned up when you did, but he was coming very close to winning, of that I am sure."
"You can say that again." Sam said, massaging his throat. "I guess I owe you my thanks too. If you hadn't come down when you did, I don't think I would have made it."
"Our pleasure." Monitamon R2 said bashfully. "But honestly, I only tripped. We were coming down to help anyway, but I slipped and fell off."
"You still probably saved my life." Sam nod. "I'm grateful. Even if you were spying on us before." He turned his face towards Gollum and his face turned sour. "But now we've got to figure out what to do about this guy."
"We'll use the rope for now." Frodo nod. "Sam, can you tie something around his neck which he won't be able to get off but which won't strangle him if he pulls on it too hard."
"Course I can." Sam gave a smile. "My old Gaffer taught me lots of different ways of tying knots, including how to make sure they don't get tighter under stress. It's simple enough when you know how. I don't like the thought of touching this guy though." He added sourly as he stepped forward, pulling Gollum's unconscious body unceremoniously onto its side and beginning to wrap the rope around his neck.
"How many different kinds of knots does a vegetable gardener like your old Gaffer need to learn about?" Frodo asked with a chuckle.
"You never know when they can come in handy." Sam said defensively, as he looped the rope around. "And sometimes we get called out to help on pig farms in the bad seasons. You need to know how not to strangle a pig when you're leading them somewhere."
"True enough." Frodo chuckled. Then turned more serious and said. "So what are we going to do with Gollum here?"
"Don't know." Sam shrugged. "What's the betting we can lose him somehow if we just leave him here?"
"Almost none." Frodo shook his head as Sam finished the rope and lashed the other end of the rock. "He's far too good at tracking, even in a place like this. He can't have keep us in sight all the way on our journey. Legolas would have spotted him more often if he had."
"That's what I thought." Sam nod. "But if we're not going to kill him then that doesn't mean leave us with many options."
"I know, Sam." Frodo nod. "I'm at a lost at the moment. But we definitely can't..."
Gollum chose this particular moment to wake up with a gasp and attempt to flail onto his feet willingly. Sam and Frodo both stiffened and held their swords ready in case he tried something, but to their amazement Gollum never made it to his feet. In mid-flail, he suddenly howled an almost unholy sound and collapsed back to the floor, hands flying to his neck and grabbing at the rope which Sam had placed there.
The Hobbits stood there, transfixed, as did the Monitamons, and watched as Gollum writhed on the floor, clawing desperately at the thin cord. Sam wondered if he'd made a mistake and he was being strangled, but then he saw quite clearly that the rope was loose around Gollum's neck. Not enough for him to pull off over his head without loosening it further but he was in no danger of choking. And besides, if someone was choking, they wouldn't be able to let rip with the screams that he was doing. They were echoing through the ravine and could probably be heard a mile away.
Gollum looked up piteously at them and wailed. "Take it off us. Nasty Hobbitses, putting work of Elves on us. It bites us, it scratches us. It hurts. They is wishing to cause us pain. They is torturing, like the Orcses from Black Tower."
Frodo felt his stomach clench as he watched Gollum. While he had been out for blood several minutes ago, right now he looked nothing like the evil creature that Frodo had always pictured him as. He was whimpering and wailing like someone was cutting into him with iron blades. He pulled futilely at the rope, which refused to loosen, tighten or snap, and then he pulled his hands away as if he'd plunged them into a wasp's nest and flailed them in the air, collapsing backward against the rock.
Sam snapped out of his astonishment and grabbed the rope, jerking it slightly. "Will you be quiet?" He growled. Gollum hacked as his windpipe was momentarily closed and gasped when it was released, falling back against the floor, moaning and gurgling like some rabid animal on its deathbed.
Frodo's heart was pounding in his chest. It was quite obvious that the rope was causing him pain for some reason. Could it be some magic that the Elves had put into it? They didn't seem like the type to torture people, the Elves were a noble race. But then again, this rope had not been designed for restraining a captive. Yet it seemed to be working. If not in the way he had expected.
"What kind of rope is that?" One of the Monitamons asked fearfully.
"You should take it off him." Said another. "It's hurting him for some reason. He's in pain."
"It's graws at us!" Gollum moaned feebly. "It is made by Elves of that bright forest. It took us ages to get the smell of their leaves from our handses. Please take it off us."
Sam was unconvinced. "Are you trying to fool us, Gollum? You think that it would work? You think that you can trick us into releasing you so that you can just run off and attack again? I don't think so."
"Sam." Frodo placed his hand on his friend's shoulder. "I think that he's telling the truth."
"The Elves wouldn't put something like this into their craft." Sam looked scandalized. "It has to be a trick."
"Elven magic has always opposed darkness, Sam." Frodo pointed out. "And Gollum has long been infected with darkness. Darkness the worst kind. I think he really is in pain."
Sam looked a bit put out by this, and he feebly muttered. "Well... we can't take it off him. Who knows what tricks he would attempt to pull if we free him?"
"No tricks, no tricks." Gollum whined from the floor, pushing himself onto his front as best he could and still clawing at his neck. Nasty rope burns at us. We can't stand it, precious. Take it off us and we will not be tricksy. Nice Hobbitses. Nice master."
Frodo struggled not to bit his knew why Bilbo had pitied Gollum when they had first met. Gollum was perhaps the most wretched thing that he'd ever seen. He was a shell of a person, an outcast, loathed by everybody and hated by all. He knew Gollum had carried the Ring for over five hundred years, and that had been what had driven him to his sorry state.
Was this a glimpse of what his own future might be if he continued on this quest to Mordor?
The thought made his heart clench with fear.
"Please." Gollum murmured, and Frodo was surprised. Who would have thought that word would be part of Gollum's vocabulary? "Take the nasty Elvish thing away. We can't take it. Have pity on us. Be nice to us like you nice to one another. We can do what you wants. You can be the master of us, as you are the master of the precious."
"I have no desire to be the master of anything." Frodo stated firmly. "And I have little reason to trust you, Gollum. I know your history. Sam is right. How am I to know that this is not some attempt to escape?"
"We would not escape." Gollum begged. "We will do anything that you desires. We will swear it, on anything. We shall be loyal and devoted. We can defend, we can guide, we can fight. The master would only have to say it and we would do it. Gollum, Gollum."
Frodo flinched at that last bit. There was the unpleasant noise which Bilbo had described. And it was indeed unpleasant.
"Oh yeah?" Sam said. "If we keep you around that would only be even more dangerous."
"Well, we can't turn him loose. We wouldn't know where he'd strike next." Frodo pointed out.
"But if he's in the camp with us he could just attack us at any time." Sam complained. "Don't do it, Mister Frodo. He can't be trusted. He's a liar. Mister Bilbo even said in his stories that he was a liar. He promised to lead Mister Bilbo out of the Misty Mountains when he won the riddle contest, but instead he tried to kill him anyway. He surely try the same thing with us."
Frodo couldn't deny that allegation. It was completely true and very well thoughted. Bilbo had guess that Gollum had been enraged when he guessed that Bilbo had his precious Ring, but he had also guessed that he was planning to betray his promise even before he found out about that.
But Gollum shook his head wildly. "No, Master Hobbitses. We would never do that. We will swear on the precious itself that we will serve you. Yes, yes, we will, we will."
The Monitamons were standing nearby, completely lost at the moment. All three realized that this was probably their turn considering they had confused Frodo and Sam no end shortly before. They didn't have a clue what any of them were talking about now, and Gollum's bizarre speech habits were beginning to weird them out.
Frodo was considering. He glanced towards the Monitamons for a moment. He know, or at least guessed, that they still know nothing about the one Ring or their quest to destroy it, and he didn't want to mention it in front of them. He had no desire to get them involved in this mission. It was his mission, and the less people who knew about it the better. Even strange people like this.
But there was one thing which had struck Frodo earlier, he had said that he would guide them if they asked. And they were lost after all. And Gollum had been to the place that they wanted to go to now.
He thought for a moment, trying to phrase his words carefully. "Your precious will be yours again, Gollum. Do you promise, by whatever path you find most solemn that you will not attempt to harm us and that you will do what I say as long as I am in possession of it?"
"Yes, precious, we will. The Master of the precious will be our Master too."
"But the precious is untrustworthy." Pointed to Frodo. "Would that not make your promise untrustworthy in turn?"
"The precious will bind us." Gollum swore solemnly. "We swear on it that we will do as you wish."
"Say it then." Frodo nodded. "Fully."
Gollum lifted his face up to look at Frodo. There was none of the hatred from before in his expression now, and for some reason Frodo found that to be disconcerting. He didn't really know if this was an act or not, but he remembered what Gandalf had said in Moria.
Do not be too eager to deal out death and judgment. Even the very wise cannot see all ends. My heart tells me that Gollum has some part to play, for good or ill, before this is over.
Could this have been what Gandalf was talking about?
"We swears, by the precious, that we will serve the Master of the precious until it wishes us to leave. We will be good, we will. Yes, precious, we will."
Frodo nod. "Fair enough. I believe you."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Sam put in.
"It's the best idea we have." Frodo said. "And I have to trust him. I... I have to or..." Frodo paused into silence momentarily before sighing and stepping forward. Sam tensed, waiting to see if Gollum tried anything since the person he most wanted to kill had stepped so close, but Gollum held still as Frodo loosened the rope around his neck and tossed it back to Sam.
Gollum looked surprised. Frodo could see that he hadn't really thought Frodo would do it. Other than that though his expression was unreasonable. He couldn't see any sign of gratitude or anger. It was just shock."
"You said you would guide us." Frodo asked. "Do you know the way out of this rocky labyrinth?"
Gollum's demeanor changed and he looked enthusiastic. "Yes, Master." He nodded. "We knows all the paths around here. We is always finding our way through these places easy. We can leads you out if you wants us to."
"Yes, we do." Frodo nod. "But that's not all. You've been to Mordor before too, have you not? That's where we want to go. Take us from here to the Black Gate of Mordor. Can you do that?"
Everyone present could see the fear flash up in Gollum's face for a moment at the thought of heading there, a shudder passing through his wiry body. But then he nodded and scrambled to his feet, rubbing his neck where the rope had been before. "To the Gate, Master says? Master wishes to go and see the Gate and we will lead him there. Yes. We must hurry then." He bounced on top of a nearby boulder and nodded down the canyon. "This way, Hobbits. Shall we go?"
"How do we know you won't run off when you round the first corner?" Sam asked.
"Sam, we have no choice but to trust him." Frodo said. "He's our best hope. If he can lead us out of here then we have to risk it. Otherwise we could be lost in here for days more and you know it."
Sam sighed and nod. "Fine. But I'm just saying that I think we should keep an eye on him. I still don't trust him."
Frodo grimaced, but nod.
"We could do that, if you like." Monitamon R2 offered. "We're very good at observation. Much better than we are at fighting. We can keep watch for anything at any time."
"Uh..." Frodo faltered. Now that he'd sorted out what to do about Gollum, he had to figure out what he was meant to do about these newcomers. He knew that he had revealed much of his intentions to them already, though of course not the full extent of his mission. But still, they knew he was going to Mordor now, for whatever reason.
"What was all that about anyway?" Monitamon R1 asked. "All that stuff about something precious? I didn't understand any of that?"
"Oh, it's... nothing important." Frodo quickly said. "Erm... but... I don't know if you should come with us. It's a dangerous road ahead and there's every chance that you might get hurt. Possibly quite badly."
"What is these creatures being anyway?" Gollum asked, glaring at them slightly. "We have never seen anything like them before, precious. Very strange, they are."
"Actually, I think I agree with him on this one." Sam muttered.
"Well, don't worry about us." Monitamon R2 tapped his chest. "We can look after ourselves okay. I think. Anyway, we want to help, if we can. If you're in some kind of danger then we don't want to just leave. It's like we said, we don't turn our backs on people. For any reason."
"It sounds quite scary to me." Monitamon R3 shuddered. "But we can probably be of help if we need to. We can be like scouts, if you like. And we can spot enemies coming and relay the news to each other long before you get anywhere near them. We can be useful."
"This is a journey that I would very much prefer to make alone." Frodo stated. "Or at least with as little additional people as possible. There are things you don't understand, things I can't tell you, that might mean mean trouble for you if you were to join us. Besides, I'm sorry but I don't understand anything about you. Maybe if some of our old companions were here they would be able to make better decision than me but... I'm sorry. Sam is my companion and I need Gollum to lead the way, but you can't come with me on this journey."
The Monitamons hung their TV heads, looking dejected at the ground.
"Is it because you don't think we're good enough?" Monitamon R1 asked.
"What?" Frodo blinked. "No, nothing like that. It's just, it's just, it's a dark road and, I was told that those who travel with me would be in constant danger."
"It's okay." Monitamon R3 sighed. "We know about danger. And we want to help people who are in trouble like you obviously are, just like our King and our adviser would both tell us to. But if you don't think we can handle it... well, we're not elite Monitamons yet. And we do need to find the others."
"But we're just as lost as you are in these rocks at the moment." Monitamon R1 pointed out. "Can you at least let us come with you until this Gollum guy gets us out of this place. Then, if you still don't want us around we can just go our separate ways from there, maybe."
"Please." Monitamon R2 clasped his hands together, and the other two mimicked his actions, images of large, tearful looking eyes appearing on their screens. Frodo, Sam and Gollum alike all stared at them in bemusement for a moment. But then, Frodo eventually caved.
"Alright then." He nodded. "You can come with us for a bit. But I won't have you getting hurt on my account. That was the reason I decided to undertake this journey alone in the first place. As soon as we're out of the rocks, then you can't come with us anymore okay?"
"Alright then." Monitamon R1 nod. "We can do that."
"You're like our friend Mikey." Monitamon R2 placed a smiley face on his screen. "He couldn't turn his back on people either. That's why we try and follow his example all the time."
Sam chuckled. "He sounds like a good man, this Mikey."
"He was still a kid when we last saw him seven years ago." Monitamon R2 continued. "Who knows how he is now? Anyway, shall we go? Sooner we get out of this rock pile the better."
Frodo nod. "Lead the way then, Gollum."
To his credit, Gollum hadn't attempted anything against them yet, and he nod. "This way." He waved, and he leapt down from the rocks, and with practiced agility he bounded down the canyon on all fours at high speed. As Frodo quickly set off in pursuit with Sam right behind him, he noted that he wouldn't have a hope of moving in the way Gollum did. Gandalf had told him once that he had once been a Hobbit. That had the Ring's influence over him really caused him to be like this?"
The thought made his stomach clench again, and he hurried onwards, trying to keep Gollum in sight.
The Monitamons, no longer having to hide, took to the cliff sides once again, bounding along in their series of swift jumps from rock to rock, keeping Gollum in view as they moved but staying out of reach. The Hobbits watched their movements with fascination, but Gollum ignored them, focusing ahead. Every now and then he would stop and allow the Hobbits to catch up, before setting off again quickly.
And thought the Hobbits were too far back to hear anything, the Monitamons could hear the gangly creature muttering to himself. And not just random things, he appeared to be having a conversation with himself.
"We must hurry. We must get to the Gate like Master says. We can prove to him that we can be good, yes." His good side said.
"To the Gate, precious? We can't go there. They is making us go back towards Him. We won't. They will catch us again and then He will take it back and we will never have it. And he has finished with the torturing." His bad side said.
"But the Master says that he wants to go there, so we must take him there." His good side pointed out.
"No! Have you forgotten what it was like there? Thousands of Orcses. They will surely catch us again. And this time we will not escape. Ashes trying to choke us, lava bursting from the ground, no waters filled with fish, and Him, always there, always staring out at us, precious." His bad side explained himself.
"But we promised. We swore on the precious. We must serve the Master of the precious." His good side protest.
"And when He gets it back? What then?" His bad side said.
"Hey, don't go to far ahead, you!" Sam shouted after him, breaking his external monologue. "Make sure that we can see you, you hear."
Gollum turned back and waved an arm, acting as if nothing had happened. "This way Hobbits. Still a long way to the edge of this place. Follow me quickly."
The Monitamons were all greatly unsettled but what they heard, both the description of the place that they were heading towards and the fact that this Gollum seemed to be literally divided in some description. But they decided not to mention it at the moment. They would have to see where this led first. If they were forced to part company with this group when they reached the edge of Emyn Muil then they might bring it up, but until then, they would wait.
After all, how bad could this really be? Right?
XXX
Some distance ahead of the group of the six making their way through the rocky labyrinth was another group of small beings who were currently feeling very sorry for themselves indeed. The stagnant pools and lumps of fetid looking ground stretched out in all directions around the group of three, seeming to carry on for miles and miles, but none of them had ever been known for their bravery after all.
Eventually through one of them, the small green turtle with a blue helmet was named Chibitortomon, decided to eventually pluck up the courage to try and move from the spot where they had been frozen since the previous day. The three of them, literally, had refused to move through all the time, terrified of something terrible happening if they moved more than an inch at a time.
But eventually, Chibitortomon remembered his old desire to become stronger to protect his friends.
Back when he had lived on the back of KingWhamon from the Island Zone, he had always been thinking of himself as small and weak, which is true. He could never have hoped to win a fight against the troops of the Bagra Army as Shoutmon and most of the others could have, but he had long since wished that he could get stronger so that he could protect his friends.
Next is the new recruit Lopmon. He was from a small village of other Lopmons and Kokomons in a place called Vampire Land that was ruled by one of the Seven Dark Generals NeoMyotismon. The Dark General began to gather Lopmons just to absorb them. The Lopmon was the last surviving Lopmon of the village, he flee to the cemetery to meet the Fusion Fighters to help him save his village to defeat NeoMyotismon and his army. There was a legend that has been pass down to his people about the legendary White Lopmon that is powerful to defeat the Dark General.
However their plan did not go so will when MetalGreymon got absorb by NeoMyotismon. Then Shoutmon got himself absorb to along with Lopmon. They find MetalGreymon and all the Lopmons within, only to find their data disintegrating within. MetalGreymon lost all hope to escape, but Lopmon pleaded to the other Lopmons for their help. All of the Lopmons respond by merging to the one Lopmon into the legendary White Lopmon, granting them their power. They digivolve into OmniShoutmon and ZekeGreymon, but NeoMyotismon continues to hold them in his grasp. Lopmon then gives his life to allow the pair to perform double fusion into Shoutmon DX and escape. with the loss of the Lopmons, NeoMyotismon is vulnerable to Shoutmon DX attacks, and he rereduce him to ash. After the last battle against Bagramon, Mikey reclaim the Code Crown that revive Shoutmon and the others along with the Lopmons. The Lopmon who became the White Lopmon that was revive want to join with the Fusion Fighters after the battle was over.
When Chibitortomon and Lopmon had both first met Shoutmon, they asked what would help to make them stronger. And Shoutmon had given them three requirements, stating that anybody could be strong as long as they had these three things.
Courage.
Well, Chibitortomon and Lopmon certainly haven't been showing any courage since they had woken up in this horrible eerie place.
Guts.
Some people might think that this was the same as courage, but there was a slight difference. Courage meant being brave in a dangerous situation. Guts what was needed to actually use that bravery to accomplish something.
And finally, friends.
Well, Chibitortomon had that one at the moment, but what Shoutmon meant would be friends who would stand beside you through that dangerous situation, never try anything alone is what he'd meant to say. And this current two companions, the drum Dondokomon and the bunny Lopmon, were showing no more bravery than him, which was to say, none.
Chibitortomon decided to try and lead by example. He had been in dangerous situations before, he had been Digifuse with someone else to help them fight in a battle on three separate occasions. He could do this. Right?
Dondokomon and Lopmon watched him fearfully as he inched away from the sheltered spot they had been cowering in and towards the edge of the water of the giant marshland that they had woken up in. The turtle swallowed nervously, desperately replaying Shoutmon's words in his head in the hopes that would give him the courage and guts to do something useful.
But it wasn't the water that was scaring them all. It was what was in it.
As Chibitortomon inched closer, he saw once again what had made them shrink away. Moving slowly into view was the corpses that were lying in the water, staring upwards towards the sky, albeit with their eyes closed. They all look like humans, but they were taller than Mikey and the others had been, meaning that these were grownups, adults.
Chibitortomon felt himself trembling as he inched up to the water's edge and stared down at the horrible visages. He wasn't sure what it was about them that was scaring him so badly. Perhaps it was the fact that the concept of a dead body was not something he was used to, when a Digimon died its body vaporized into data which dispersed throughout the Digital World. They didn't leave anything behind like these humans did.
Perhaps it was the fact that he had no idea what it was that had caused these people to die. He could see numerous wounds in some of them, as if they had been cut or stabbed with some kind of blade. Who was to say that the owner of those blades was still out there somewhere?
Or maybe it was just because they looked so completely repulsive and eerie.
They were deathly still. Not even ripples disturbed the water between them and the surface, as if the water was congealing around them or something. They never moved an inch, just floating there, all with faces upwards.
And beside each one were those strange flames, the ones that Chibitortomon had attempted to put out earlier, only for something to cause it to pop back into existence once he had succeeded.
"Don't get too close, Chibitortomon." Lopmon shuddered from where he was crouched, his big ears pressed to his as if he was unsure whether he wanted to cover his mouth or his eyes.
"Is it still there?" Dondokomon added with a whimper.
"Yeah." Chibitortomon called back, stepping backwards a little. "They're still here. All of them."
"You sure they're dead?" Lopmon asked.
"Um." Chibitortomon muttered. "Yes, I'm pretty sure they are."
Lopmon shivered. "Why are they here? Who killed them? Can somebody please tell me where we are, how we got here and what's going on?" He was starting to get worried. "I want to go home."
"I'm sure that someone will come and get us." Dondokomon said confidently. "When King Shoutmon and Sorcermon the adviser both realizes that we're missing, they'll come and find us."
"What makes you think something hasn't happened to them through?" Lopmon said. "Last thing that happened that I remember was the Code Crown acting funny. It had those light beams connected to all of us. What if they were all zapped into different places? What if... what if we're the only ones left?"
"Can't be." Dondokomon protested, though he sounded nervous. "I mean... nothing can kill Shoutmon and Sorcermon right? ... Right?"
"We've gotta have courage." Chibitortomon felt his fist clenching. "We're all alone now. There's nobody else around here for miles, so we've got to have courage. We've got to have guts too. And we're friends. We're all that the others have got now. We... we have to look after one another now."
He took his face from the hideous dead face in the water in front of him, and said. "I mean, we're members of the Fusion Fighters too right? We can do this if we stand together and stay strong, can't we?"
"I'm only a rookie member of the Fusion Fighters." Lopmon pointed out. "I was only recruited for only a few years in the castle."
"Yeah, but you're still one of us." Chibitortomon said forcefully. "We can do this, right? We have to do this because there's nobody else to do it for us."
"But what about the bodies?" Dondokomon shivered.
"They're dead." Chibitortomon suppressed another shudder. "They can't do anything, they're just floating there. They can't hurt us." He turned back to look at the nearest body.
He immediately yelled and jumped backward, his heart pounding as he collapsed on to his backside, causing Lopmon and Dondokomon to scream in turn. Chibitortomon stared at the body in horror. For a moment, he could have sworn that its eyes had been open and staring at him, white, glassy and lifeless. But now its eyes were shut again. If they had ever been open at all.
Chibitortomon swallowed and said. "We have to be brave. We have to be strong. We have to... we have to find a way of surviving on our own and getting out of here. Courage, guts and friends. We have to have those if we're going to get out of here."
Lopmon and Dondokomon still looked nervous, but a little more grim faced, though neither was showing signs of budging just yet. Chibitortomon threw another glance at the body.
It had to have been a trick, right?
XXX
The three Monitamons joined with Frodo, Sam and Gollum. And the three Digimon are scared of the dead bodies in the water of the Dead Marshes and are lost.
In the next Chapter I have involved with the characters in the War in the North.
Next time Chapter 16 Heroes of The North.