(Chapter six: A liminal town)
Slowly taking off her sunglasses, Sabrina found the scenery before her still odd. So odd that she had to specifically take her glasses off like that man who saw that dinosaur for the first time in Jurassic Park. Alright, maybe not that dramatic… but that is what it felt like when going further into the woods.
The trees seemed to be littered with… even more road signs the further she and her group went. Some were still on their polls, some grew into the trees, and others just lay down on the ground. It looked like a storm had come through and the rain was replaced with signs.
There wasn't even a single repeating one; different types of road signs were everywhere alongside roadwork signs and crossing signs of various things.
"Forget going to a store, all the signs I could ever want are here for free…" the human said looking around.
The three Digimon behind her looked around in wonder at the strange metal objects and only Candlemon chuckled at her comment.
Approaching a break in the trees was a vast open sandy plain. It looked like a desert, however, it seemed to be more of a sturdy hard sandstone just under a few feet of loose sand. The strangest sight besides the multiple signs in the woods was the fact this newer, hotter area, was covered in power polls that look to lead nowhere in particular.
Sabrina put her sunglasses back on and undid her coat from her waistline, carefully dropping her poorly woven bag down. The heat was way more noticeable since the trees had broken away. She then decided to loosely put it back on; Sabrina knows that wasn't such a good idea and was at risk of overheating herself, however, if the heat were to get to her skin… which was incredibly pale, could burn up way too easily. There was no sun spray lotion in the digital world, and she highly doubts that the aloe she needs exists.
She'd also probably blind the others with how pale her skin was. Her face was way more manageable than her arms, which the human knew for a fact she wasn't going to use in combat. hopefully.
Making sure her makeshift bag was back on, and that Candlemon's wax won't melt off of it… actually, she hopes Candlemon himself won't melt in this heat.
"Everyone going to be okay? We got our water containers filled?" She asked, looking at her crudely carved canteen flask that looked like a thermos. She wasn't even sure the water would hold, let alone have the water absorbed into the wood…
Maybe they should go around the other way… back through the forest where there's water and food and… "oh boy…" Sabrina sighed.
That large bug Digimon.
"Come on! Let's go!" The fighter Agumon cheerfully called out, walking a little faster than the rest of the group.
"Out of one forest… into another," Candlemon said, grabbing his human's hand with a smile.
She smiled back down at him, and a small chuckle escaped her. Despite feeling cautious and uneasy, Sabrina couldn't help but also feel curiosity and excitement.
Everyone was miserable.
The heat was much hotter than the human anticipated. She may have a high tolerance to heat, but she'd never walked through an actual desert before. Sabrina rubbed at her face, a groan escaped her as she did. It seemed like this walk lasted forever! "How much farther until the village exactly?" She asked.
"We… we might be halfway there?" Candlemon inquired, "gosh… if I were still Meramon, I'd have no trouble with the heat…"
"How do you even know a village is out here?" The heart Agumon asked, "why would there be in a place like this?"
"I only heard it from another Meramon, a long time ago..." The little candle answered. "Nice guy, he's in charge of keeping that mountain's water over yonder safe."
Gazing off into the distance, Sabrina wonders what would have happened if she had run into the other Meramon instead of her friend…
"Hey, Hey! Look over there!" The fighter Agumon pointed, almost relieved "Is that it over there!?"
In the distance, you could see… large buildings. The effect of the heat rising off the ground made them look like they were swaying. Sabrina knew it was a trick, a mirage, but… if it was the village then she'd risk it.
If not… well.
Sabrina shook her head, and they quickly started making their way forward. With a breathy sigh of fatigue, she called out "Alright, let's go..."
The village was nothing Sabrina imagined, and Candlemon knew for a fact this wasn't the village the other Meramon talked about long ago. Yet, the location was spot on. With the cliffside and the large broken boat.
But the huts were no longer… huts.
"These are a lot of apartment complexes…" Sabrina whispered, looking around the somewhat tight spaces in between them. They remind her of the block she used to live in with her mother. However, the streets and alleyways looked tighter. Then looking down, she noticed straw and old sticks with clumps of clay scattered about.
"Odd." She knelt down, picking up a twig. If she didn't know any better, it looked like these buildings fell down on top of something. Maybe this place was the village they were supposed to arrive at?
"I don't like this…" heart Agumon nervously glanced around.
"Where are all the Yokomons?" Brain Agumon asked themselves mostly.
"Keep your eyes open everyone." Fighter Agumon readied their fists, expecting a fight.
Despite the tall buildings casting shadows and cooling the group down, the hot wind still blew around them, making this place seem like a modern ghost town. Except… all the buildings… were just identical copies instead of individual different ones. Down to the base and all the way up to the rooftops.
Sabrina can confirm this after glancing through the windows and taking brave looks inside some of them. Not only that… but this design looks like it could belong in Japan. That's what she thinks at least, the human could be completely wrong. Though, it doesn't stop this place from being way too big and cramped.
It honestly scared her.
It was a little past noon and the group finally found what looked like the center of the village. The buildings were all positioned around in a circle, and a normal-sized park fountain spitting water sat like a bullseye.
Walking closer, the group eyed it like fish suffocating on land, but before anyone could even think about drinking the water, there was movement. Sabrina saw it at first thinking it was just her vision messing with her, but then the others also experienced the same moment just shortly after.
This town really wasn't a ghost town, it seems. Sabrina doesn't know if she should feel relieved or not.
"Hello, who are you?"
The human yelped in fear hearing a sudden younger child-like voice. The group turned around from where they just came from to see a small… pink bulb-shaped creature. They had a large blue flower on their head and a tiny mouth, but their green eyes were large.
One had taken charge, standing just outside the shadows of one of the buildings, the rest all huddled closer to one apartment. They all looked roughed up, and the higher Sabrina looked, the more there seemed to take residence in the building in front of them. It looked like an army gazing down at you.
Everyone was at a loss for words. Either mouth gasping to talk, or just wide-eyed staring. No one did anything and that just seemed to put everyone on edge even more. Sighing, seeing as how the only human was at the front of the group now, she'd have to answer.
"Hey, heh… sorry about that, you startled me." Sabrina timidly smiled at the little plants "we were just passing through; I was told we could try and get some questions answered here… you guys are Yokomons, right?"
"We are…" The little one in the front answered "you're not here to hurt us, are you?" They quietly asked, those sad and innocent eyes piercing her chest.
She had to stop her maternal instinct from kicking in, it was clear something wasn't right. The last time she punched someone for bullying another since coming to this world, ended up trying to chase her down to the ends of the earth. It was clear the other Agumons felt the same.
Kneeling down, Sabrina calmly soothed their fears "no, no, never… why would I hurt you guys? Who's been hurting you?" They didn't seem to speak after hearing that question, it was like if they said anything it would make their situation worse. Like a kid refusing to tell an adult who was hitting them at school.
"No… I'm just here to ask if you've ever seen anyone who roughly looks like me; a human?" She asked pointing at herself "or what a digidestined is?" She had asked again, bringing out her device, but this time she ended up getting a rather large reaction from half of them.
Some of the Yokomon were whispering to each other and the Yokomon upfront answered the human "we've heard stories in the past from the Yokomons that Digievolved and left the village…How a group of humans saved our home from the mountain guardian who was being controlled."
"You said you're a human right?" One Yokomon had piped up, "do you think... you can save us? Save this village again?"
Sabrina stood back up, her face neutral to what she had just heard and what was asked of her. She didn't get much info but can confirm that these DigiDestined were heroes of sorts.
"I don't know if I can, but I and my friends can try." Sabrina held a concerned face. "However, you guys have to tell us the full story of what's going on, okay?"
The Yokomon all made noises of confirmation.
"This way," the lead Yokomon motioned Sabrina's group to follow them to a cozier spot inside the complex where they all reside in.
A couple of buildings were occupied by the Yokomon, but this one building held most of the residents of the village, each room not as repetitive as the other vacant rooms of the other apartments. Each had decorations to their preferences, hanging shards of colorful glass that cast beautiful hues of light or yarn unfurled everywhere. Little blankets and pillow forts brought them safety and comfort inside concrete walls. It also appears some of the rooms had empty cans in them as well. Most of the empty metal cans weren't labeled, but it looked like they were empty for a long time. They informed Sabrina and her group that the Yokomon usually eat a grain and seed mixture either way.
Stepping into one room, in particular, seemed to be like a meeting area a couple of floors up so no one could eavesdrop on them. It only made Sabrina more aware of the situation.
If the Yokomon were scared of something or someone dropping in on them while talking, then this has definitely happened more than once. The room they entered was pretty empty on the third floor beside the furniture. It was the typical living space you'd see in an apartment with the kitchen divided by a countertop looking into the living room. A sliding glass door on the opposite end, and small a hallway to a few bedrooms; usually at the most two. It was like that for all the rooms. All the buildings.
There was no television, no other electronics, just a gas stove in the kitchen, and a big couch in the living room. There were definitely beds and pillows otherwise the Yokomon wouldn't have been able to make their living space more comfortable.
"It all started one day when these weird buildings started appearing." The lead Yokomon finally explained, looking at Sabrina and her group sitting around the coffee table "it brought attention to a lot of Digimon, at first it was the Sunarizamons who started rampaging through what was left of our village…"
"Then the Boarmons!" Another Yokomon piped up, sounding rather miffed. "We didn't even know Boarmons lived around here!"
"Eventually, when all of our homes were gone, something even scarier happened…" many of the Yokomons that followed them up to the room all looked in different directions, sad, hurt, and indefinitely scared "a group of Dracmon started going through everything, and they kept coming back and hurting us when we didn't have anything they wanted."
Sabrina hadn't a clue about what Dracmons or Sunarizamons looked like, but there was an inkling of what a Boarmon could look like. She was aware of the damage wild boars can do, and it only made her wish she had her hunting rifle. Dealing with wild boars on her father's property was something she was used to.
"You guys haven't been able to get any help?" The heart Agumon looked at all of them with sad eyes. "Does any decent Digimon with a kind heart pass by?"
"We thought about some of us leaving to go find Meramon, the guardian of Outlook Mountain…" one Yokomon spoke up "but we kept getting attacked by the remaining Digimon we mentioned earlier."
"We're not that strong, and because of how often we get hurt now, we haven't been able to Digievolve." Another said, flower on their head wilting "many of us don't make it back…"
"So you guys stopped trying!?" The fighter Agumon slammed their claws down on a nearby surface scaring the Yokomons.
The sudden yelling made Sabrina jump and snap her head to him "Hey! Don't do that! They're scared enough as it is!" She shouted back. It made the Agumon realize that he probably overstepped a line yelling at the little ones. Looking down, said Agumon awkwardly apologized.
With a huff and droopy eyes, Sabrina folded her arms "But… I understand your enthusiasm, bud. I don't like this any more than you do."
Hearing all of this almost sounds like a case of horrible luck. But what could her group do? They've only fought one Digimon at a time. This time it sounds like a large group against the five of them. She'd rather not put the Yokomons in any more danger than they have been in.
"Well… there was one Digimon that came by a while back…" this made Sabrina stop thinking for a moment when a Yokomon mentioned this, "they said they'd keep our village safe… but we haven't seen them since."
"Oh?" Sabrina's head tilted at that "do you remember what they looked like?"
"They looked like a wizard with matchsticks… but we've never seen a Digimon like them before…" the lead Yokomon answered, "we're a little worried too, to be honest… we gave them food and water in exchange."
Sabrina hummed at that. There could have been a change the mon ate and ran on an empty promise. She looked left and right at her own group that sat with her, all giving her the same look that she knew what it meant.
"Okay… I might have an idea then." Sabrina said standing up and brushing the dust off herself "give us some time and we'll see what we can do to keep your village safe." Her group nodded in agreement.
The Yokomons all look up at them and cheered, it was the first good news in a long time.