X-X-X
"The names Gotsumon! Now why are you all down in these mines?"
Stunned by the surprise of this digimon, I couldn't manage a response; I simply gave it a blank stare. It too stared back at me, putting its hand down by its side, seemingly as curious and surprised of us being here, as we are of it!
"Gotsumon, right?" Lorna stepped forward, kneeling down beside me "My name is Lorna, this here is Snow, and the guy behind me, that's Regas" I nodded in recognition of my name as the Gotsumon took the time to look at each of us
"And these other digimon? These friends too?"
"They are, Renamon is my partner, and Guilmon is with Regas" he seemed to eye us up, no doubt trying to tell if we were saying the truth or not – however a realisation must have hit him as his eyes suddenly lit up, and he jumped on the spot
"Wait! You're digi-destined!?" there was a mix of shock and...happiness? It almost sounded as if he was pleased to see us?
"w-We are" I responded, pulling myself together as I kneeled there, rubbing my eyes to rid myself of my tears, cradling my knuckles after taking my frustration out accidently against the Gotsumon.
"Oh wow! It's a miracle! A real life miracle! Come! Come with me! The chief will want to meet with you! Our village isn't far! Follow me!" he pointed behind him almost bouncing on the spot, where with the light we could see a small, thin passage leading away from the main shaft we were inside.
"A village? Insid-hey, wait!" half way through my question he had grabbed onto my hand and began pulling. Getting to my feet to avoid falling over flat onto my face he tugged me around the corner and into the corridor – looking back to the others, I could see the crack of a smile on Regas' face before being dragged into it.
"Everyone will be real excited to see you! Real Digi-Destined!" the Gotsumon continued as I was half-dragged, half-ran down this opening. The walls getting closer and closer and the ceiling getting lower, watching my step closely as the craggy floor threatened to trip me at any moment. The little guy didn't seem to falter though and before too long, from up ahead I could see signs of light. The others now following close behind me.
Before too long I had to lower my head, slowing down as I more crept through the remaining passage, in fear of hitting myself on the lower ceiling. This didn't last long thankfully, as an opening where the light had appeared got close and opened up.
Breaking through, I couldn't believe what I was seeing...it was indeed as Gotsumon had said a village...a village within the mountain! The chamber was huge; from above rocks seemed to shine with the intensity of a summer's day, bathing the whole chamber in a strong light and heat. Ahead of us was a paved path, stone buildings on either side, as the path ascended up to the centre of the chamber, a rounder, much larger building sitting there – looking a bit like an old fashioned kettle in shape, the chimney on the side billowing out smoke
"The chief lives there, come! Not far now digi-destined friends!" from my trance I was broken, feeling once more the tug of the Gotsumon as we ran on through the village, the path at least now much smoother and easier to navigate, the risk of me falling now diminished greatly. "Everyone! Come! Digi-destined humans have arrived!"
As he shouted out from the various buildings along the route and pathways beyond, Gotsumon began to appear. Heads poking out of windows, and whole groups coming out from homes. Some just watched with a stunned silenced, others started to cheer, jumping up and down – others trying to shake our hands, and pat us on the back and shoulder.
Were digi-destined really such a big deal? Thinking about it until now we had only encountered a couple of digimon other than...our partners and they had been less than friendly, but these were the first ones not to attack us, quite the opposite in fact, they seemed eager to meet us and make us feel welcome.
Despite all the apparent jubilance and putting on a brave smile, inside I still feel wretched. Agunimon had been taken from me...and as I thought about it more I couldn't shake the thought that was it really my fault? I mean I was the one that stood in the trap as it descended onto me, and froze in horror on the spot as he had to rush into me, and push me out of its path, trapping himself...If I had only been more observant, only been more careful perhaps... he would still be with us now.
That train of thought kept going through my head in a circle as we were lead into the centre. More and more Gotsumon spilling out of everywhere to greet us.
We entered into some kind of yard, the front door lay ahead of us. To say that it was a door may have been over exaggerating however – as it was more colourful cloth over a stone entrance.
"Wait here, I'll let the chief know!" The Gotsumon bowed to us before leaving to enter into the building.
By now we had built up quite the following – various Gotsumon had gathered around us, some stood in the path, others on walls, of various sizes and shapes. The cheers had continued, but I couldn't help but feel by the way some of them looked at us that we were being judged in some way? The piercing gaze examining us from a distance, measuring up our worth. As some looked to me, I could see them turn to another and then whisper behind hands about something.
I sighed, and looked down, fidgeting on the spot. No doubt they had made the link there are three humans, and only two digimon, who were stood by their partners, keeping close. Then there was me, with no one. Putting my hands in my pocket I could feel the cold plastic of the digi-vice. If only...I shook my head, feeling something touch my arm. Looking to my side Lorna gave me a smile
"You holding up ok?" the concern in her voice was somewhat comforting,
"I'll be ok...I, I'm just worried" I didn't want to lay everything on her, not right now anyway, not with all the Gotsumon around us. She seemed to understand, patting my shoulder gently
"Don't worry, we'll look after you. Nothing will happen, I promise" nodding in response, I appreciated her concern; she was doing her best, she was trying.
I didn't blame her for what she said, and did back there. She was right, as was Regas – we had to run, we had no choice. If we had stayed things would have only made a turn for the worse and we may not have made it out at all. At least now, we could come back at it with a plan, a plan to rescue Agunimon, and take down LadyDevimon. If these Gotsumon were locals here, they might know ways and means we could use too – If I could get their aid...get there help; it might be what we needed!
"Chief's awaiting!" my train of thought was detailed as Gotsumon stuck his head on out of the doorway, and waved us in with his hand. Taking the hint we made our way in.
Pushing the cloth to the side as I entered first, I was greeted with a rather unique sight. The house itself was just a large circle. All around the outer edge were stone chairs, with a furnace to the left hand side. In the centre was a fire pit, around the edge of that were stone circles embedded into the floor, rising up slightly – again to sit on?
"Please, sit by the fire" from the other side of the room the voice called, a soft and frail voice, but still none the less carrying an air of authority. Looking for the source I soon found it, as we sat down by the fire, from the back of the room another Gotsumon appeared, this one walking with a stone cane, and the cobalt grey of the others replaced by a much more faded and lighter colour.
Sitting down on the rocks, I sat down first, intending to sit to the side of the others, however Regas moved into my left, and Lorna on my right putting me firmly in centre stage...their partners sat down beside them, with the chief sitting opposite to us, kneeling on the rock the fire in the centre began to calm, before it was little more than embers flickering within the kindling.
"So you are digi-destined?" his face was unreadable in the dim light of the fire, staring over at us, eyeing each one of us up. Nodding my head in response
"We are, My name is Snow, this is Lorna, and Renamon, and this is Regas with Guilmon" each one nodded, or waved in recognition to their name, the chief looking to each one, and bowing his head to each individual.
For a moment there was silence, as his gaze returned to me, and focusing directly on me. I shifted slightly under his observant stare, but not looking away. Wanting to give the impression we were confident I stared straight back at him.
"I sense great sadness from you, Snow" from me? The gaze I had held with him was now broken as I looked away, shocked and surprised, was I really that transparent? He continued "Something has happened, to your partner?"
Feeling myself flinch slightly, taking a deep breath before answering – he had seen straight through me and the visage I had put up, he was either the most perceptive individual I had ever know, or well informed. None the less there was no way I could avoid this discussion now.
"In the mines, back from where we came we came under attack by LadyDevimon..." as I spoke her name, I watched him shift, flinch almost at its mentioned – obviously striking a chord "...she attempted to trap me, but Agunimon saved me, and because of that she somehow managed to control him..." I felt myself beginning to break down inside, clutching my hand hard on my knees, into a fist, clutching at my jeans "...he attacked us, he attacked my friends. We...we were forced to leave him behind, and now he is with her, god knows where doing her bidding!" looking back up, I once against locked my eyes with the chief, my eyes cloudy with tears "I want to ask for your help, please – help me rescue my friend!"
"Snow!?" Regas shocked by my surprise request turned to me, looking about ready to argue a point with me, but I cut him off, as I shook my head
"Agunimon doesn't deserve his fate! It was my fault he ended up like that! My fault he was captured! You said it yourselves, we can't do this ourselves! The Gotsumon might be able to help us!"
"No! Snow! We can't involve others, this is our fight, not the Gotsumon!" he threw out his arms, looking back over his shoulder to the doorway "This is not your fault, this is no one's fault – We will fi-"
"Regas!" I cut him off mid-sentence, shaking my head "It is my fault! And we have already seen that we can't! I did this, and I want to fix this...I...I owe it to Agunimon..."
The room went silent after that, Regas lowered his head as did I, still clutching at my pants as my fist shook with frustration. I could see where Regas was coming from, but...I didn't want to waste an opportunity, if we could get help, why can't I ask? I knew I couldn't do this on my own, and when we all battled against him only a short while ago it was woefully one-sided...Agunimon would do anything for me, I had to do the same!
"Tell me...do you know anything about electronics, Snow?" hearing the chief speak, I looked over to him, taking a moment to take in his rather peculiar question as it broke me away from my previous thoughts,
"Electronics?" I repeated, confused as to why the sudden change in topic
"Yes, Electronics – Do you have any experience?"
"Some, I can fix stuff if that's what you are asking?" my confused tone carried across into my voice, as I was still processing how we got from our previous discussions to this.
"Excellent, please follow me" the chief stood, and stepped away from the fire to the right side. Pausing for a moment as I looked to the others confused. We all stood, however, he looked back to us "Just Snow" he added, with a finality indicating it was not up for debate
"Erm...sure" stepping away from the others as they eyed both myself, and the chief curiously we stepped through another, smaller doorway leading out of the hut, and back outside again.
Leaving the warmth of the chamber we entered into a small yard, no larger than about 10ft. The wall was about the same size as me, with a sad looking, colour faded machine in the corner
"You have sadness in your heart, you wish to rush to the aid of your partner, correct?" the chief next to me glanced up, and I nodded
"I would do anything for Agunimon, my partner, anything at all" if I had to go to the end of the worlds to do it, I would, looking to the chief he gave me a wry smile
"We too, wish to rid ourselves of LadyDevimon and her minions – they have for the longest time plagued us, hunted us, and boxed us in. We too were sad, we too would do anything, everything to save our home...but to every warrior who would come to me with sadness, they would let their emotions guide them...so far none have come back to us" he walked across from where we stood, towards the machine, tapping it gently with his cane "I wish for you to repair this machine".
Following behind him as I knelt next to him I took a moment to inspect the actual item itself. It was about the size of a boiler, however it had a front panel on it, which was open just a slight. Moving my hand forward, I opened it carefully, hearing it creak in defiance. Inside were circuit boards, several of them connected with wires, and various adapters – however it looked as if many were fried, rusted or otherwise damaged...looking back to the chief, I asked, rather perplexed
"What does it do?" none of it seemed to make any sense, it looked as if it was just a random assortment of circuitry. He merely chuckled to me, as if I had made a joke
"You said it yourself; you would do anything for your partner, correct?" his eye line moved back to the machine "If I told you, fixing this machine would aid you in that, but it was to you to figure out its meaning and function on your own to achieve that, would that change your response?"
Hearing what he was saying, and trying to make sense of it, I couldn't help but feel he was playing some kind of mind game with me...a machine that would help me save Agunimon, but I had to figure out its function on my own? How could I repair something when I don't know what it is I am doing?
However he was right though, I would do anything for Agunimon though, if that meant jumping through the old chief's hoops, so be it.
"I'll do it" I nodded firmly to him "I will fix this machine – and with it, I will save Agunimon!" sitting down in front of the machine, I ran my hand down the side of the open panel, felling the age of the rust, the cold touch of the metal...if this was what I had to do, if this was the world I had to go to the end of, so be it! "Leave it to me!"
"Excellent! Excellent – Here, to help you along, there are tools in the box" he pointed to a small, metal box next to the machine "I will leave you to it – I shall ensure your friends find accommodation whilst you get to work, please let me know when you are done young human"
He waved, and then moved off back into the house, leaving me alone in the yard, with just the machine to keep my company. Wasting no time I began to inspect the damage, and get an idea of the task ahead of me...
X-X-X
The human would be fine, I was sure of it – He would understand, in time. I walked back into the chamber with his companions still by the fire, the digimon however stood now, looking slightly agitated.
"Where is Snow?" the male asked me, Regas, was his name I believe? I continued walking until I got back to my seat, settling myself down before responding.
"He is learning to harness and control himself" I added simply "Do not worry, he is in no danger. I welcome you into our village, and we shall make preparations to aid you in your fight against LadyDevimon and her minions. Once Snow is ready, we shall listen to his plan, and then do as he asks"
"Wait – Snow? Surely you know better on how to attack her base?" the female spoke up now, surprised by my reaction. Ah! The joys of youth I chuckled
"Perhaps – However your friend has an investment in this fight, and I believe if he is who I believe he is, then we have nothing to worry about...he 'is' the chosen, correct?" the shocked expression on the faces of his friends told me what I needed to know,
"How di-"
"That is not important...but knows I have been waiting for this day all my life, and know it must be him who decides its outcome, because only he can..." I bowed my head politely to the female human I just interrupted "...For now though! Let us get you some refreshments! Please make yourself comfortable"
I was sure Snow would succeed at the task, and then we will save his partner, defeat LadyDevimon, and free these mines of the dark lord's influence. Just as the prophecy predicted.
X-X-X
This thing was just impossible! After doing a cursory inspection and spending a good half hour just seeing what components made up this strange device I came to the conclusion it did nothing! It just didn't seem to make any sense – the parts which should have been next to one another weren't, and entire boards seemed to just have any old component jammed into them.
The various degrees of damage didn't seem to help either, some boards seemed serviceable, others were so caked in rust or cracked parts it would never work, and no amount of cleaning could fix that.
Deciding the best course of action was a bit of triage. Taking each part out, one at a time I made two piles – parts which still worked, parts which might work, and parts which were dead.
Focusing so much on the task, and only the task I began to lose sight of the guilt and sadness I felt over Agunimon and his capture, with it turning to hope and determination. Even being sure this device would do nothing to help me directly save Agunimon, if it was what would lead me on the right path to that objective, I will walk it gladly. I was his hope, his friend – he was relying on me to get him out of there, and I wasn't going to let him down!
I stripped down boards, further removing parts and diodes which no longer operated, and salvaging parts from others – replacing, cleaning and repairing best I could. The rust on some boards was so thick it was like digging into sand, not only scrapping but digging it away. Getting into every little nook and cranny, not leaving a speck of rust, dust or anything else on parts which I could use.
My fingers blistered, and my hands were cut from each action, feeling each and every bite at me from the old machine.
I wiped my forehead of the sweat which was forming, shifting on the floor as I felt cramp in my leg. I felt my stomach grumble but I couldn't break, not until I finished.
I don't know how long I was sat there, how many hours had passed since I started but finally I had cleaned, and triaged all the parts from the machine. Its internals sat around me like some macabre scene from a horror film – a heap of broken and disused parts not too far, where I had unceremoniously dumped all those which no longer worked, leaving me with only items I could use.
How to use them now, was the question...
Deciding it would be best to put stuff together in what seemed like a logical order, I inspected the only item with machine I could not remove, which coincidently was the only one which appeared to work without any issue – the power source.
Now I would be lying if I said I understood it in anyway, and that it made sense to me. It didn't seem to take any fuel, nor was there any kind of way to feed any into it – but it worked. Behind all the circuit boards and adapters there was a switch, and when I flicked it on, after no small amount of effort I should add, it began to hum with a gentle vibration, waves of warm heat emanating from it.
"So..." speaking out loud in an attempt to bring my thoughts together"...The power source has a single slot, for this..." reaching to the side I pulled an adapter from the pile, and plugged it on into the device, hearing the gentle click as it locked into place, "...which must mean, this connects to that one..." picking up a circuit board with multiple ports, I placed it inside, screwing it into place.
Whilst I was stuck into my thoughts, I hadn't noticed I had an observer sat upon the wall above me, watching me as I worked – and when he did finally make his presence known, I immediately reacted with a jump, hitting my head on the machine in surprise
"You know it will never work, right?" as I rubbed the back of my head, muttering a curse under my breath I turned my head up, and saw a Gotsumon looking down at me, if my memory was still reliable after that knock, I would wager it was the one we found in the tunnel system earlier.
"Perhaps..." I spoke back, with calm however pained tone "...but I have to try. Your chief said this will help me save Agunimon – if that is what I need to do, then that's what I will do" I smiled to him, placing my screwdriver down, and picking up another board, as I looked where it would fit inside, "Listen, about earlier in the tunnel...I am, sorry about hitting you, it wasn't intentional"
"Oh that? Don't worry about it!" he jumped down from the wall, and stood next to me, peaking his head next to mine, watching me work "I was hiding anyway. We had heard fighting and I was going to investigate, so I was being all sneaky! When I saw something running down the tunnel I thought it might have been Ladydevimon and her minions!"
It made sense, thinking about it. They must have called this mountain home – then someone comes into that home, takes it over and calls it thee own. I know I wouldn't appreciate that...which reminded me, I had been so obsessed in my own suffering, I had failed to ask these guys their story, and how they had ended up in the position they are now...
"Gotsumon? What happened here? I mean, with your people? And LadyDevimon?" I was curious now, what suffering had the dark lords inflicted upon these people... who for intensive purposes jusr wanted to live their lives in peace.
"Well, before she came we used to live and work here! Alot of these tunnels we helped dig – we came here after our last home was destroyed in the battle with the dark lord's years ago! Some of us had come to help the miners, and made a home here – so we all gathered!" he paused, before sitting down beside me whilst I worked
"Then, one day all of a sudden this darkness began to fill the tunnels! We didn't know what it was, and before too long the miners who had come here began to leave, as others disappeared! After a while the only ones that were left were us Gotsumon...this was our home! We weren't going to he chased away! That's when she appeared...with her army of Goblinmon – they flooded the tunnels, destroyed our villages and plundered the mines! Killing or enslaving anyone who got in their way..."
I stopped for a moment, as he mentioned the killing and enslaving, looking to him I saw his eyes cast downwards. Giving him a soft smile of encouragement, I placed my hand on his shoulder
"It's ok, you don't have to go on if you don't want to" I could see the pain in him, I recognised that pain myself. He however shook his head to me, looking back up with a renewed vigour,
"No, no it's ok, after awhile this was the only village that was left. Everyone who could made their way here and we have been here ever since. They seemed to lose interest in us. Now, they only seem to attack us if we go into the tunnels, or near to the base they have here in the mines"
Now that made me curious...
"A base you say?" he nodded again, that gave me some ideas...as I picked up my screwdriver, I had a thought forming in my mind "Tell me a little about this base..."
Over the next fifteen minutes or so, Gotsumon went into great detail about this base. It was essentially made up of two parts – the main, large chamber which housed the 'Mega-Drill' in the centre, or so they called it – a drill so large that it had to make its own tunnel to get into the mountain – this was where most of their operations were, they were apparently digging for something deep within the mountain, though had yet to be successful.
The second, smaller but still significantly large chamber was where all the ore processing occurred, and those enthralled by LadyDevimon were kept. Collecting payloads which came in by cart, and then smelting it down. He didn't know what they did with it after, only that it was collected once a week by a Trailmon who came on by – apparently the main chamber had a station connected to it, which linked to the outside world!
Slotting into place the last piece of circuitry, I smiled to Gotsumon, my mind having being focused by the task at hand; I was able to see clearly in my mind a plan of action and come up with a way that not only would allow me to save Agunimon, but free these Gotsumon from their oppression!
"I think I have an idea..." I chuckled, reaching my hand back into the machine as I slipped my hand behind the newly constructed internals and flipped the power switch. The hum once more returning as the warmth spread through the machine – diodes flashing on boards, as static leapt from one circuit to another.
Removing my hand slowly and closing the panel, the Gotsumon looked at me with a mix of surprise and awe, "How! How did you fix that thing! What does it do!?"
Placing the tools back in the box, I turned to Gotsumon, and replied, my voice clear and strong
"It's going to save Agunimon – come on! Let's go see the chief!" I pulled myself to my feet, and turned to head back inside – seeing what the chief had meant now! I was focused, I was ready!
X-X-X
Stepping back inside the building, the fire in the centre was still crackling away, dimly lighting the chamber – to the side I could see my friends asleep, Regas snoring away blissfully. The chief was sat where he had been previously, his eyes closed – once I got but a few steps inside though they opened slowly, letting out a quiet yawn before turning to me with a smile
"Is it done?" I replied with a nod, sitting on the stone beside him
"It is – I have a plan on how we can, pardon the pun, kill two birds with one stone" the euphemism obviously went over his head, putting my hands up I laughed "To which I mean I have a plan. Firstly though, let's wake the others – I am going to need their help to make this work"
"Agreed – before I do that though Snow let me ask you one thing, the machine – what does it do?" I knew his question was the final test, but I knew the answer. Standing up, I looked back to my friends, and answered, clear
"It gives hope – It is a beacon to those who have lost their way...like I had. Thank you for showing me that even like this, I can still help those in need, no matter who they might be" hearing a chuckle, then a grunt, I could only assume that was his way of giving me his approval. The chief got to his feet, and moved beside me
"Then you are ready – come, let us kill these 'Two birds' as you put it, my friend" and with that we got to waking my friends, and the other Gotsumon assembling them in here in this chamber.
X-X-X