(Chapter two: Friendships and Rivals)
"Hey, Over here!" One of the Koromon called over their human friend. He was looking up at a tree with a bunch of fruit hanging down. It was quite the climb when Sabrina walked over, and it would prove difficult to get up if you didn't have hands.
Cracking her neck, the human got ready "It's been a while since I had to climb..." she was unsure of herself, but everyone needed food. Looking at herself, then at the trunk of the tree, she grappled onto it.
The two little Koromon called out and cheered "you can do it!" It brought a smile to her face. Once she grabbed hold of the bunch, she fell to the ground on her back. Her back was going to be bruised if this kept happening.
They wanted to find a good amount of food before dusk had hit, she had no idea what looked good and what wasn't meant to be eaten. That's where the first Koromon came in! He seemed to the brains of the group and knew these things well.
After a while, It got dark pretty quick, but the sticks and kindle they gathered for a fire were enough to last the night. They returned to the cave and Sabrina focused on if this really was a dream or not. She got hungry, she was feeling tired, she felt pain... how could she feel tired, hungry, and pain in a dream? She would have woken up by now.
The two Koromon silently munched on the local vegetables called DigiCarrots that, disappointingly tasted like normal carrots... and these things called power bananas that gave energy back. They had this odd cinnamon taste to them when heated up.
It was amazing that the fruits and vegetation were similar yet different. Sabrina smiled to herself as she checked on the third Koromon who was still sound asleep and wrapped up in her coat for the meantime.
If this really wasn't a dream, what would she do if that Goblimon came back? What would she do if he found them? Sabrina doubts that another punch to the face would work, and frankly, that thing's head is as hard as rocks.
She huffed out with a hand to her head, all this thinking was starting to get to her. She should probably sleep and try to regain some stamina... she had lost much of it over the years of sitting in her room and watching videos and playing games.
"Never thought I'd ever been in a life or death situation..." she mumbled again, laying down and slowly drifting off to sleep from exhaustion.
The morning came faster than she thought, that or sleeping on rocks wasn't a good idea. With a stubborn noise of not wanting to get up, Sabrina was suddenly assaulted by the Koromon trio, jumping on top of her. For a moment she really thought what had happened yesterday was a dream.
A grunt of pain escaped her as she shot up to see what exactly was going on; Sabrina was so sure that all of this wasn't real. It felt like a hole in her stomach opened up and started sucking the hope out of her. The only thing stopping her from having a hyperventilating attack was the little creatures. They all looked up at her with smiles.
A part of her calmed down, and only slightly happy to see that the third Koromon was doing alright, a little bruised on the head, but still good.
"Good morning you guys, sleep well?" She asked them all with a strained smile and the group chimed in with positive noises. No doubt about it, they were adorable. "Good to hear."
"How about you Sabrina? Did you sleep okay?" The first one asked.
"As well as a human can sleep on a stone.." she said, but the little guys couldn't pick up that she didn't sleep too well at all. She let it slide, Sabrina didn't want them to worry like how she was worrying.
The human got up and grabbed her coat, tied it around her waist, and got ready to start moving. So now the plans start coming back, What would be her first course of action? Eating some food; there were still some bananas left, it should give her enough energy to get the day going.
The other followed suit, they ate and watched what she was going to do next. They really did seem fascinated by her, Sabrina tolerated their long stares because... she was technically the first human these little guys have ever seen.
"Second course of action..." She mumbled to herself... Sabrina remembered hearing yesterday that these little guys were far from home apparently... perhaps she should help them return to it? Maybe she'll run across someone else like her?
But that still brings up the means of weaponry... she needed to defend herself and them now.
"Hey, Sabrina... you okay?" The second Koromon, the heart, asked looking up at her. He noticed how she just stopped moving and proceeded to have such a... face that looked distressed.
"Yeah, I'm just.. thinking on how I'm going fight, and how I'm gonna get you guys home." She crouches down to them.
The group huddled up to her, the third Koromon finally spoke words to her "don't you worry! Well fight for you, leave things to us!" He said with pride.
Ah, the fighter of the group.
Sabrina chuckled at him, "...But it doesn't feel right for you guys to do all the work..." she stood up and started looking for something as she talked "you guys are so small and I worry about what could happen to you..."
Though as she says this, she mentally scoffed at herself, does she even have what it takes to protect literal monsters? She couldn't even fend off a child-size Digimon properly.
"When we digievolve, it'll be a different story!" The third said, "we were made for this stuff, don't worry too much about us!"
"Yeah... what about you?" The second Koromon asked worriedly. "You should be worrying about yourself and how you'll get back home..."
"We might not know everything about humans, but we know you're not from the digital world..." the first one said, looking at her intensely. "And the way you get lost in thought... you're probably thinking about going home like us..."
The wind kicked up for a moment, the rustling of leaves in the world was just the same. Taking a moment, Sabrina felt so unsure about the whole situation. Her maternal instincts kept saying 'no'.
Everything was just so complicated now, with hostile creatures and unknown territory... sooner or later her emotions will catch up with her mind. When that will happen... well... she just hopes she wouldn't break down too hard. For now, she'll just have to be strong.
The strange device in her pocket started making noise, unlike the first time she looked at it. It lit up with an arrow-like it was telling her to go somewhere. What did it mean? If it was trying to lead her somewhere, now wasn't the time. Though oddly enough the more she looked at the device, the more she felt... hopeful?
A little voice that rang in the back of her mind kept telling her one thing:
Believe in them.
She looked at the device for a moment longer before it finally went dark again, then back at the ground which laid a few objects, and finally back at the group of Koromon.
It seemed like they were dead set on helping her for as long as they can. It made her happy that she could call these little guys her first friends since coming to this world.
"We'll somehow fight together then." She looked at them with a smile, crouching down. "Just... let me make a few things."
The trio looked on puzzled, the human was making things that they never would have thought possible. They watched the human grind down rocks together to make a sharpened blade. Crude but efficient enough to cut down a few objects, like large leaves.
Finally, Sabrina had a list of things they needed before running off into the wilderness; necessities being food, water, and a thing to carry all of them with. The large leaves were folded into a sack- not a proper pack because weaving was not her best skill.
In the distance the group could hear a roar, not wanting to stick around to find out what it belonged to, the human hurried up her process. That was the third time today that they heard the same frightening sound, and Sabrina hates working under pressure.
Out of the brush of the tree line, an object came hurling at them. It was aimed at Sabrina! Hitting the deck, she just nearly got smacked in the back of the head.
"Found you!" A familiar voice called out, making everyone turn.
Goblimon stood there with a triumphant smile, happy about managed to catch up to the group that had lost him yesterday.
The thing that was thrown was his club and it seemed to come hurtling back at him like a crazy boomerang! That shouldn't be possible at all!
Sabrina quickly gathered her stuff and held out the sharpened rock like a knife. The trio of Koromon gathered to her and growled at the attacker.
"Gosh, you sure are a persistent fellow..." the human said, backing up ever so slightly. "But the question is... just how persistent?" Quickly running off she yelled to her group "come on, guys!"
The group needed to find a better area, something that they could use to get an upper hand-
"Really!? You're running again! Come and fight me like a real mon!" They heard Goblimon shout out.
Running through the thick forest, they eventually crossed over to a rocky area. Not only that but a cliff-hanging over a larger river. An Idea had struck Sabrina's mind as she quickly looked down.
"Guys! That's it!" She backed away from the edge and looked at the Koromons "we don't have to actually beat him! We can throw him over the edge!"
The trio looked over surprised, it seemed like a good idea, the rapids would wash him away and they wouldn't have to deal with Goblimon anymore.
"You guys hide, I'll try and get him near the edge." She looked at them, but the group had worries in their eyes.
"Sabrina, I'm not sure that's a good idea!" The first one said, "what do you plan on doing grab him and toss him over?"
They could already hear his shouting once more in the distance, and another roar even farther back.
She thought about tossing him, but her carry capability wasn't as good as punching or slapping "Trust me guys. Once I get him close enough, you three can hit his legs or the ground to surprise Goblimon!" She pointed out, "maybe he'll fall over!"
"But you have to quickly getaway!" Second Koromon said, "it looks like the ground here is very unstable..."
"I'll be fine! Go!" She urged them away. Once again, the Koromon looked at her with concern but hopped back into some nearby brush.
Eventually, it was just her and Goblimon who once again caught up. Both breathing heavily and staring down each other like cowboys in the wild west.
"It's too late Goblimon, the Koromon got away!" Sabrina yelled out to him, making him think her friends ran away "you'll just have to fight me now!" She held her rock knife out, ready if he charges.
"That was the plan all along!" He happily yelled, "I have no idea what you are, but nobody had been able to surprise me like that!" He slammed his club down in anticipation.
That wasn't the reaction Sabrina was hoping for. She was hoping for him to get angry and become predictable, but instead... it seemed like he was enjoying this. Even the short banter!
"I have the feeling you'll be a worthy rival! Finally, something fun is happening!" He shouted out.
Sabrina gulps down her nervousness, but this is even better, he's still focused on her. She quickly glanced to the side to see one Koromon at the ready, then she looked back at Goblimon. Backing up ever-so-slightly, Sabrina steeled herself as she raised a hand signaling for the goblin to come at her.
With a bellowing cry, Goblimon charged at her.
"Goblin Strike!" He yelled as a fireball came surging out of the wooden club and directly at the human.
Sabrina yelled and dodged to the side, a small part of the cliff cracked off. She's starting to think this wasn't a good idea after all. However, by the time she could even regret her decision, Goblimon was already on her.
A downward strike made Sabrina throw her hands up to block the attack and pain shot through her forearms, she cried out. It was like being hit with a baseball bat, and the worst part was is that she knew how that felt.
Dealing with the pain a little longer, Sabrina managed to grab hold of the club for a moment and swing her sharpened rock knife. They both shuffled out of the way in different directions, making Goblimon inch slightly closer to the cliff.
Going in for another stab, the goblin backed off a little more, only to stop and look down at what was really going on.
"Hey, wait a minute..." he tried to say, but the human cut him off and yelled.
"Guys! Now!" Sabrina shouted out, a barrage of high powered bubbles shout out, the snap of them popping off of Goblimon was audible enough to push and catch him off guard.
At that moment, time seemed to slow down as Goblimon saw the new being wave at him smugly as he started his descent down the cliff face.
The group watched for a moment, pretty sure that he was gone and they all cheered.
"We did it!" Sabrina cheered as the trio of Koromon came barreling at her as she ran away from the crumbling cliffside. "We actually did it!"
The trio all crashed into her happily laughing and nudging against her face or her leg, however, the victory was short-lived. They saw Goblimon fall of the cliff, but they should have made sure that he fell into the water.
Though, what came back up wasn't Goblimon anymore.
Apparently, there was a second cliff ledge just below the one they were on, and that it stuck out a little more than Sabrina thought. The group watched in horror as a larger, meaner, version of the Goblin clamp a hand onto the ledge and lift himself back up.
Sabrina and the trio of Koromon stood shocked and felt fear creep upon them. "He... he digievolved..." the first Koromon said, shocked at the scene "Into Ogremon..."
The bruised fighting Koromon just growled out again, "You should have stayed down!" He yelled, upset that their enemy wasn't gone yet.
"Not a chance, little guy." The bigger Digimon laughed.
He was no longer child size and undoubtedly towered over the human now. Fear made her freeze, she didn't realize Digimon could get bigger.
If that wasn't enough to show how bad of a time they were having, the loud roaring from before got closer and closer, eventually showing a larger red and green stag beetle flying by as it chopped a few trees down.
Sabrina's fear of bugs kicked in and hearing the loud buzzing made her brain go into full panic mode. The size made it even worse. She couldn't take it anymore.
She screamed out, wanting to run away, but right as an opportunity came, Ogremon took it to strike her. The two Koromon pushed her away while the third was consumed by a blinding light.
In an instant, the Koromon was no longer... Koromon... but something else.
"Pepper breath!" It shouted out and spat a fireball towards the attacker.
Though it wasn't enough; With a swing of his bone club, Ogremon was able to deflect the shot and sending it someplace else.
"Enough is enough!" The orange dinosaur yelled, "just leave us alone already!" Another callout of the same attack and Fire came rushing out towards Ogremon, managing to actually hit him. It made him stagger a bit back but he brushed off the fire after a moment.
While those two fought, the two Koromon looked over at the downed human "Sabrina you have to get up! You have to run!" He pleaded, trying to think of the best action to take.
Sabrina couldn't say a word, but she frantically shook her head, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. She doesn't want to leave them, despite her body and mind crying out for her to do so.
"He's after you now, you heard him say that! You have to run!" The second Koromon yelled. "We'll keep him busy."
"No!" She yelled out "I'm not leaving you guys!"
At that moment, the two other Koromon were also engulfed in that blinding light, turning into that same orange dinosaur-
"I'm sorry, but you don't have an option now." The first one said, finally coming up with a plan. It wasn't a safe one, but it'll definitely make Ogremon lose her trail.
The first one looked over to the second one knowingly, nodding, both grabbing her arms to get up and pushing her to the cliff's edge "you have to jump! We'll be okay, we promise!"
"We'll meet again, okay!" The second one said. "Just curl up in a ball when you jump!"
Sabrina glanced at them, tears blinding her eyes behind the sunglasses. She then glanced up at the third orange Digimon having a little difficulty fighting the Ogremon alone.
"We promise." This made the human look down at them, "we're Agumon now, we can handle him." They kept reassuring her.
They just want her to be safe, and the river was the only option it seemed. With the larger beetle swinging back around, it noticed the commotion that was being caused. Sabrina panicked once more, slipping over the side by accident.
All four Digimon looked in her direction; Sabrina felt so many things, the fluttering of butterflies in her stomach as she fell from the height and the sadness of leaving her friends behind.
Ogremon broke away from the third Agumon and tried to reach out and grab the human; Sabrina couldn't make out the emotion on his face, but the two other Agumons had head bashed him away and Sabrina continued her free fall.
Disappearing into the river below.