Leo looked out at the horizon, and saw something start rising above the water.
"Is that Server?"
"Yep. That's the continent of Server."
Leo smiled, and turned to the sleeping turtles and Digimon behind him.
Even Agumon was fast asleep.
He woke the green-eyed Digimon first, and Agumon proceeded to wake everyone up with a shout.
"WAKE UP, GUYS!!!! WE'RE ALMOST THERE!!!!"
Everyone woke up groggily, and Gio sat up, rubbing her eye cutely.
"Are we there already?"
Leo couldn't help the light blush that colored his cheeks as he nodded.
Soon, they were jumping Whamon's back and onto shore.
"Come on, El! It's as easy as falling off a sewer pipe!" Gio called up to her timid pink-eyed sister.
"Th-This is W-WORSE than f-falling off a-a sewer p-pipe!"
"Its okay, El! We'll catch ya!" Rach encouraged.
Elisa hesitated before obeying, but her sister's didn't exactly catch her…
Don did…
He was pretty lucky he caught her right, and that he didn't fall on his behind on impact.
He blushed crimson when he noticed he was holding her bridal style, her face buried in his shoulder and her arms wrapped around his neck. She looked up at him shyly, blushing prettily as her arms loosened from around his neck.
"S-Sorry…" She stuttered softly.
"It's okay…" He answered, just as softly, putting her down.
Raph chuckled at the embarrassed, shy looks on the two turtle's faces, but he didn't see a need to pry at the moment.
"Where do we go now, Don?" Mikey asked innocently.
Don snapped out of his confused thoughts in order to answer his little brother.
"Whamon said there's a Koromon village further inland that we can eat at."
And so off they went, going through a forest not far from the shore, and came out to a sloping valley, a village in the distance.
Gio must've been hungry or something, because she bolted down to the village, Palmon following as fast as she could.
"…This isn't good…" Rach muttered before running down after her older sister, the others not far behind.
They saw a group of grey, red-eyed little Digimon pick up Gio, knocking Palmon over.
"Shell!!!"
Elisa stopped to help up the plant Digimon as the others raced by.
They all saw being pulled into a large hut, but they slowed from fatigue. They went up the stairs, and saw a familiar light green mask on the floor.
Leo nearly panicked.
'PLEASE be alright, Gio!'
He opened the door to the first room he saw with a slam, and Rach looked around, finding a basket with elbow and knee pads, a leather belt, and a Digivice.
"GUYS, DON'T!!!"
But, apparently, Raph's a little TOO rash…
He pulled back the curtain in the room, and both him and Leo froze.
It was like a natural hot spring inside, with rocks, steam, and a waterfall.
What made them freeze, however, was the female turtle standing in the hot water.
She seemed oblivious to them, facing the waterfall, her shell glistening with water. It reflected rainbows in the steamy air, and her arms and legs looked slippery with the clear liquid as well.
She was bending down to reach something, and the blue-banded turtle blushed.
He was almost entranced by the almost angelic image, but Raph just wanted to run.
Leo couldn't help the sharp intake of breath as familiar, almost haunted green eyes looked in his direction, but…let's just say that, at that particular moment, it wasn't really a GOOD thing…
"WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING!?!"
As they tried to stutter out a reply, she grabbed the basket she'd initially been reaching for, throwing it hard.
WHAM!
Raph went down…
BAM!
Leo fell down pretty hard…
Rach closed the curtain, giving the blushing green-eyed turtle privacy.
"I told ya not ta…"
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The Pagumon gave them a feast, and they ate gratefully, though Agumon seemed a bit suspicious, saying he'd been sure he'd smelled Koromon.
Mikey fed Poyomon some fruit, and the baby Digimon stiffened.
"Poyomon?" Mikey asked nervously.
"Poyomon, Digivolve to…TOKOMON!!"
The bright light faded, and a smile lit Mikey's face as he hugged the Digimon to his chest.
"You're Tokomon again!"
Said Digimon nuzzled against his partner in agreement.
"Congrats!" Rach said with a smile.
"Congratulations!" The Pagumon chorused, but no one noticed the mischievous glint in their blood-red eyes…
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The next morning, everyone woke up to a hysterical Mikey shaking them awake.
"Tokomon's missing!!"
THAT got everyone out of bed and out searching.
They checked the whole village, the forest, the Pagumon even searched the waterfall further off.
Mikey was near tears, he was so scared!
Leo tried to comfort him when he noticed something amiss.
"Where's Agumon?"
"I think he went down to the waterfall." Gio answered.
"Then let's go. Maybe he's found something."
The Pagumon blocked their path.
"NO!!!"
"But what about Tokomon?"
"He's not there! We checked!"
"What if he went there AFTER?" Don added.
"Just trust us on this…"
Raph's crimson brown eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Yer hidin' somethin'."
It wasn't a question. It was a fact.
"EEP!!!!"
Everyone turned to a startled Elisa, who in turn was looking down at the small black Digimon with yellow eyes on her lap.
"That's the Fresh form of Koromon, Botamon. But why would one of those be in a Pagumon village?" Palmon stated.
"…If this isn't a Pagumon village…"
Don glared at the Pagumon once his statement had sunk in.
"What have you done with Tokomon?"
The Pagumon ran off, and worry gripped Leo's heart.
'Please be okay, Agumon! PLEASE!'
He started at a run down to the river, seeing steam rise into the air in puffs.
'Pepper Breath on the water…he's in trouble…'
He sped up, pushing away exhaustion as his feet pounded on the ground.
The waterfall came into view, and Leo's heart nearly stopped when the steam did.
"AGUMON!!!"
He ran up behind the waterfall, his breathing ragged and heavy.
"AGUMON!!!!!"
The Gazimon stopped, looking at the blue-banded turtle in surprise as Agumon struggled to rise, looking like he'd been through a pretty thorough beating.
Leo saw cages in the gloom, one holding a bound Tokomon and the others holding a whole village-full of Koromon.
"Digivolve, Agumon!!"
"Agumon, Digivolve to…GREYMON!!"
He pushed up the ceiling with his head, causing a break in the waterfall as the others ran up.
"You wanna fight two against one, eh?"
The Gazimon cowered as Greymon towered over them.
"Nova Blast!"
The two Digimon were knocked into the river, and were dragged downstream as the others ran into the cave.
"TOKOMON!!!"
Mikey pulled the cage open with a snap, and quickly untied the small In-Training Digimon before hugging him close.
After freeing the Koromon, they were ready to head back to the village when the hologram of a strange monkey-like Digimon appeared in the sky.
"Who's that?" Elisa asked curiously, but she felt wary.
"It's Etemon!" Tentomon panicked.
"I say we show dis monkey who's boss!" Raph stated.
"Gabumon, Digivolve to…GARURUMON!!"
Both Champion-level Digimon growled at the elvis-sounding Digimon, when Etemon strummed his electric guitar.
"Concert Crush!"
They stared in awe as their Digimon Dedigivolved before their eyes, and the cave started crumbling.
"RUN!!!"
They ran further into the cave, their only exit soon blocked off by rocks.
They were stuck in a small room, a symbol carved into a wall before them. The wall started to glow, as did Leo's tag.
The gold, orange-glowing tag lifted itself into the air, and the wall shrunk, fitting itself into his tag.
"It's a crest…" Don muttered, looking interested.
"It's the Crest of Courage." Agumon stated, answering the unasked question.
They looked out of the hole Leo's crest had left, and saw green hills and mountains.
They headed out, Leo still gripping his crest.
'The Crest of Courage…I don't think I deserve this…'