Chapter 23: Rest and Planning

I collapsed onto the rickety bed, it groaning even under my little weight. I stared up at the cracks in the ceiling.

Ro curled up next to me. Glancing to the cheap wooden table in the room, I observed that Matt and Gabumon were seated at it. They were talking quietly. Lastly, looking towards the other bed in the room, I noticed that Tai had been placed comfortably on a pillow.

After our escape from the hospital, we had just ran and ran... Finally, upon re-entering Tokyo City, we had found a cheap hotel; it was abandoned. Matt had found the key to Room #203 from the lobby, and we had hustled into the room, happy for a chance to take a break.

It took only a moment to throw off the lab clothing - something I had no time to remove earlier - before collapsing onto one of the beds. Gabumon had placed Tai onto the pillow of the other bed before seating himself at the table. Matt soon joined the Digimon, and they were talking, too quietly to hear. I assumed they were just catching up for lost time.

Ro was very tired. Glancing down at the dog, I realized he was already fast asleep.

Scratch that; we were all tired. We had all been busy, doing so much. Only now did it hit me that I was completely exhausted.

I glanced over to Matt and Gabumon again. They were still talking, but they were stealing the occasional glance at me.

I groaned softly. They were talking about me; probably discussing what exactly I was.

Feeling self-conscious, I turned away from Matt and Gabumon. I checked myself over again, examining my body.

I hated this. I was just a short, strange-looking lizard with its tail on fire.

Matt never seemed to respect me. Maybe I didn't blame him. Those Orgemon, the Andromon...they had all insulted me. But maybe the insults were true. Maybe I was stupid, filthy, dumb...

A tear escaped my eye, dropping onto Ro's fur. He didn't seem to notice, still slumbering away.

I reached down with my paw to wipe the wet tear out of his fur, then decided to just pet the dog. He responded gladly to my attention, wagging his tail limply in his sleep. I curled around the dog, laying my tail across his body.

'At least I have you, Ro...' I thought, shedding another tear.

I awoke the next morning with the sun glaring in my eyes. Blinking, I turned away from the window I was incidentally facing. I rubbed my eyes with the back of my paw and sat up. Looking around the room, I noticed that Gabumon and Ro were gone. Tai was still sleeping on the pillow, and Matt was typing away on the laptop. (We had left the computer - and my backpack - outside the hospital entrance before going inside, and had hurriedly grabbed the items again during our escape.)

"You slept late." Matt said without looking away from the screen.

I yawned, glancing at the nearby digital clock. It read 11:27 AM.

"Where's everybody?" I asked, getting slowly to my feet.

Matt shrugged. "Getting food. They're looking around the hotel."

I nodded, then walked over to Matt. "What are you doing?" A glance at the screen partly answered my question; I saw a picture of myself on it.

Matt chuckled lowly. "Researching you, of course...Charmeleon."

The tiger-boy glanced at me, perhaps interested in how I would react.

"Charmeleon." I repeated, the word strangely flowing off my tongue effortlessly. "Is that what I am now?"

Matt smiled. "Yeah." He turned back to the screen, reading a few lines to himself, then reciting them back to me. "Charmeleon, species Lizard, type Fire." Matt looked back at me, reclining in his chair. "The Charmeleon is brave and loyal, but also quick to anger."

I absorbed all the information. "How'd you...get all that?"

Matt shrugged. "Nothing special. I just kept scanning you." He tapped the computer. "It's meant to scan Digimon's computer-like data, but with a little tweaking of the settings..."

I nodded, pondering my 'name'. "Charmeleon. Charmeleon. The word seems familiar somehow..."

Matt shrugged again, booting down the laptop and laying it aside. "I suppose you should, since you are one."

I nodded again, slower this time. I didn't think that was the reason. It didn't feel like the reason...

The door to the room suddenly opened, interrupting my thoughts. From outside bounded in Ro, followed by Gabumon, who was holding a grocery bag in his arms.

For the first time, I observed Gabumon without the technician clothing on. (He had cast it away because, like myself, he found it unneccessary and uncomfortable.)

The Digimon was similar to Matt, but furrier and a little less human-shaped. The fur Gabumon had also appeared to be 'worn', like it was in fact a piece of clothing. While I didn't question it further, I noted that Matt's fur, in contrast, seemed to be actually part of his body.

Gabumon placed the bag lightly onto the tabletop. "We found a store. There wasn't anyone there...so we just took some food. Was that okay?" He look to Matt.

Matt nodded warmly, then stood and dug into the bag. In moments he had layed out its contents on the table: 3 red apples, 2 boxes of crackers, and couple bags of jerky, and a couple of dog bones.

We started out breakfast. I ate heartily upon one of the bags of jerky. Matt and Gabumon each had an apple and shared one of the boxes of crackers. Ro, of course, worked on a bone.

After our meal, we seated ourselves around the table to discuss what we were going to do next.

"Gabumon and me discussed this already, last night." Matt began.

"We decided that we need to find out where the others are, because we can't do that much on our own right now." Gabumon chimed in.

"So we're going to go have a talk with Davis." I predicted.

Matt nodded. "Hopefully he won't try to fight us. Though it's a strong possibility."

"Are Veemons tough?" Ro asked, referring to Davis.

Matt shrugged. "He doesn't seem that dangerous. He tried to attack some guards when we were arrested...But he was overpowered pretty easily."

"But we aren't that sure what his skills are." Gabumon added.

I thought for a moment. "But shouldn't you know, Gabumon? I mean, you're a true Digimon. Shouldn't you know all about other Digimon?"

"Nobody can know everything, Xaiver." Matt glared at me.

"He does have a point, Matt." Gabumon intervened. "I have never seen or heard of a Veemon until I saw Davis. I wouldn't even know that he was called a Veemon if it wasn;t for that computer." Gabumon pointed to the laptop.

I nodded. "So another never-before-heard-of creature. Just like Ro and me."

"'Cept we aren't Digimon...I think." Ro added.

"We have decided that Xaiver and myself will go see Davis." Matt explained.

I leaned on the table. "Why not all of us?"

"Gabumon and Ro will look after Tai. He'll be waking up sometime today." Matt answered, glancing at the snoozing Koromon.

"We'll hold the fort, as you say." Gabumon smiled.

"Well, sounds fine to me." I answered. "When do we leave?"

Matt stood up from the table. "Right now. The sooner we get things done, the better."

I nodded, standing up myself. "Should I bring anything?"

Matt smirked. "Just your fire-breathing skills."

I blinked, realizing that Gabumon must have told Matt what I did to the Andromon.

After a quick exchange of good-byes, Matt and me walked outside and away from the hotel.

Ed: Hi again, everybody! Sorry for the time between updates! Unfortunately, I have been awfully restricted from the computer, so I can't update very often. I'll try to get a new chapter out as soon as I can! Thanks for your patience!