(Chapter five: Information)
With a squad of Rookies, Sabrina looked around. They were safely back at the slanted shallow cave; everyone was eating and regaining their strength. The human smiled at how lively everything was now... being reunited with her old and new friends... made the pain vanish a good bit.
Though it was quite alarming to see what really happens to Digimon when they can't keep going in life. Candlemon had filled her in on what becomes of a Digimon after death.
They just get reborn, and apparently, all Digimon start off as eggs like how she found him.
He also told her that when he was struck with his own attack, he didn't actually die. He and Apemon were just sent back to the digital world because a rift had opened up on impact. He as Meramon, was trying to find a way back ever since.
But there was still that question repeating in her head. How will she get back? Would it be a good idea to bring Candlemon with her?
"Sabrina, what did happen to your hair?" Candlemon looked up at her, still eating "it used to be all gold and long- now you look like your brother. No wonder why I didn't recognize you right away."
She thought it was for the best that she never tells him what really happened to her hair "It was getting too hard to take care of." She strained a smile.
Well, it was a half-truth... the real truth was that her dad took the scissors to it because it was too hard to take care of. She was a little kid, she didn't know anything about self-hair care after all. Now that she's older, he actually did her a favor. Short hair was easier to take care of and it puffs up too.
Though she is still slightly traumatized about the ordeal and refuses to have long hair anymore.
"Ah, so.. that's what happens when a human cuts their hair? It just gets darker?" Candlemon was still trying to understand why her hair changed color.
Sabrina sighed with a smile, "bud, my hair isn't the important thing here..."
"Right, right..." the candle chuckled.
"So you two really know each other?" The first Agumon asked, their head tilted at the two. "I thought you didn't know anything or anyone here?"
Sabrina scratched her head, looking down. "Well, I didn't... I mean I remember the word Digimon but I never really thought too much of it..." she then looked over to Candlemon who was still eating the last of what they had... he deserved it. "I and Candlemon grew up together in the human world for a while, and the only other Digimon I saw was Apemon. After the fight, everything was a blur when I continued my life."
Candlemon stopped for a moment and looked down... he knew he was stuck in the digital world for a long time, but he never realized that so much time had passed. All that time they could've been together was wasted.
"It must have been boring without me around..." he chuckled sadly.
Sabrina didn't want to say it, but he knew she had forgotten him... that much was clear when they had met up again a few days ago. She would have remembered him on the spot if she had.
"It was, it felt like I was missing something from my life..." she held her chest, but smiled at him "but I- I finally know what I was missing... my best friend who never stopped thinking of me." Sabrina huddled over to Candlemon and hugged him "thank you, Candlemon... I'm sorry it took so long to see you again..."
The candle sniffled away tears, not wanting to cry in front of his friend. He was strong, he didn't need to cry. Sabrina just held him tighter, like he could vanish at any moment if she lets go.
"Aww, I just love happy reunions..." the second Agumon whispered to his friends, and the other two nodded.
It was a little past midday, and the group of Agumons had been catching up on what had been happening since they were separated from Sabrina. How Ogermon picked a fight with Kuwagamon and not knowing if he was taken out or not.
If he wasn't, there is still a chance that Ogermon is still hunting down their human friend.
"You punched him in the face- Sabrina what were you thinking!?" Candlemon sat on a rock as he watched the human repair her spear. They were at the lake again, needing more food before night time decides to roll around once more. This time, the Agumons were going to help catch some.
"Look, I saw a kid-size creature bullying smaller creatures-" she exasperated, emoting with holding her hands out.
"So you're first thought was, 'hmm, I'm gonna punch a child in the face!' And just went for it?" Candlemon made a thinking gesture while he said that.
"Says the candle that wanted to fight an ape that was six feet or so tall..." she mumbled, tightening and braiding vines around the broken wood. "I see where I got my aggression from."
Candlemon just laughed out loud, he did find this whole situation funny, and he was just glad that his human can hold her ground when she needed to. She was especially brave when trying to fight Apemon with him.
Thankfully it was the spear that broke and not her.
He wasn't so sure she'd be lucky next time. Candlemon will need to become Meramon again to keep her safe... once he regains his energy, that shouldn't be a problem. It had been so long, he was pretty sure Meramon was his default stage now.
"Alright, Agumons!" She called out to the trio, holding her reinforced spear "you guys ready!?" Sabrina should probably come up with nicknames for these three.
They cheered out, claws at the ready.
This time Sabrina was more confident in hitting something, she just knows it.
She and the others stood still, scanning the clear shallow parts of the waters. The moment anyone saw something that resembled a fish, they struck and up came a rather large pierced fish from the third Agumon who cried out with pride.
The second tripped and fell into the water and the first caught a smaller size fish.
Sabrina smiled as she heard how excited everyone was, despite the second Agumon falling under. Her eyes never left the water, and there- she finally saw something! Striking downwards, the human pierced her first decent fish without Meramon's help. She was finally doing something on her own that wasn't building weapons or bags!
Her family would be proud of her.
The night arrived, cheerful laughter and a cracking fire could be heard in the distance. Sabrina smiled happily at her group, while the fish cooked, fruits laid out, and vegetables as well.
She spent half of her time trying to figure out what to do next, but the other half she spent giggling and laughing at her group's stupid antics.
If she didn't have a family to get back to, she'd be pretty content staying with these guys... staying with Candlemon.
Then she remembered that word Apemon said... 'DigiDestined' what did that even mean? He seemed to praise the word and think very highly of it.
"Hey... do you guys know what a DigiDestined is?" Sabrina asked them, holding her fish on a stick.
"I-! have absolutely no clue," Candlemon said, scratching the melted part of his wax.
"I think I have heard something about it..." the first Agumon said, tilting his head "it was pretty long ago when I heard it from another Koromon back in our village- the DigiDestined were a group of heroes that came to save the digital world from destruction."
"Heroes? Uhh... wait group?" Sabrina held her hands to her head. Were there more humans out there like her? Probably lost in the digital world too?! However, they just said a group of heroes'; doesn't specify if they were humans or not.
The first Agumon nodded "they also had something that help Digimon through their evolutions... but that's all I really know..."
Sabrina pulled out the odd device and looked at it, she was pretty sure this thing used to be her phone... otherwise it wouldn't have been in her phone pocket. Humming to herself she looked to Candlemon, it glowed frantically when she needed him to get up, and she was also assuming that this thing was trying to lead her to him at the beginning... not only that, but she thinks it might have helped her Agumon friends to fight Ogremon as well.
"I'm guessing our meeting wasn't just a coincidence all those years ago then..." Sabrina said with a half smile.
If she was called here then something must be wrong if she was supposed to save it... with other people apparently? Though she couldn't shake the feeling that she was still the only human here. What if that was the case and she had to fight bigger and meaner monsters on her own?
It scared her to death.
"Hey, Sabrina... you don't have to be scared..." Candlemon said, noticing how she was shaking "you have me and these guys looking after you..."
"Yeah, from now on, we'll stick together! We'll figure out what's wrong, and we'll get the two of you home!" The third Agumon said with a confident smile, the others nodded.
Sabrina smiled at them, finally taking a bite of her fish. She was glad to have friends such as them. "Where should we start looking?" She asked after a moment.
"There's a Yokomon village a little way into the desert," Candlemon pointed out, "we could go there and get a little more information... whether it be about the DigiDestined or something else."
At this point, Sabrina has accepted that everything in the digital world was crazy and dangerous… yet real and beautiful as well. It made her want to go explore and figure things out. See many things and meet new… Digimon. Whether there were other humans is left to be decided and would rather not have her hopes up.
The only hope she should hold onto is… trying to get back home. Preferably in one piece, but who knows?
It'd be one heck of a story.
"Is everyone ready!?" Sabrina smiled, calling out to her group.
The four monsters called back happily while raising their hands up in excitement. The three Agumons and the human were equipped with reinforced weaved bags and wax from Candlemon. Each holding food for their travels, hopefully, it will last them a while.
Taking in a deep breath, one hand holding onto her fixed spear, Sabrina exhaled while putting on her sunglasses with the other. Her jacket was tied around her waist beforehand in preparation.
"Let's move out then." She shook that last bit of unease as she looked back at the little cave she and Candlemon called home for a while.
No more cover, no more walls, just open air.