Intertwined Destinies
Jade Potter is a lonely girl from England who just happens to have a dark and secretive past. When she goes to Japan as part of a school assignment, she and seven other children are summoned to a strange world, where not all is as it seems. Just what is the Digital World, and how will everyone get back home again? Will they want to? And who exactly is Jade?
Chapter 2: It Begins…
For the rest of the week the Japanese students were able to see exactly how vindictive Dudley could be. Dudley wasn't sent home, though he was sent to seclusion for the rest of that first day so that he couldn't bother anyone. The second day that the English students were on camp Dudley had deliberately tripped Jade as she was walking to a table in the dining hall during dinner. Her food went everywhere and as Mr Sanders had gotten to her first she was deprived the food that had fallen and was forced to clean up the hall after all the children had finished eating. Because Dudley had heard the order, he and his friends had made as much mess as possible.
Tai and Sora remained behind with her, letting her eat some of the food they had saved for her, and helping to clean up the dining hall. All the Japanese children had seen Dudley trip her, and more would have stayed but the teachers waved them off.
During the week Dudley had pushed Jade into the lake when she was playing with TK, and because she couldn't swim she struggled about in fear. Tai had seen the incident and jumped into the water to save her, and when Mr Sanders appeared to find out what was happening, Dudley explained that Tai was trying to drown Jade. Tai would have been sent to seclusion for trying to injure another child if it hadn't been for the numerous Japanese children who witnessed the event and backed up Tai's side of the story. Instead Dudley was sent to seclusion.
Another incident proved how much influence Dudley had over the English students. He had managed to get one of Jade's roommates to steal her shoes and he threw them away so that she couldn't wear them. One of the camp rules was that children weren't allowed in the dining hall without shoes on and as Jade only had the one pair she was unable to eat. Sora had gone around speaking with other girls to see who had shoes in Jade's size, so that crisis had been averted.
But since it was clear to many children that Jade was no longer safe in her own cabin, Tai and Sora approached the teachers asking if Jade could be moved into Sora's cabin as there was an extra bed. The Japanese teachers didn't have a problem with that, and neither did Ms Rein, but Mr Sanders and Ms Trish kicked up a huge fuss about how it wasn't fair to the others. Ms Rein helped Jade move her belongings anyway. After that Jade carried her backpack with all her remaining belongings around with her, no matter what she was doing.
Finally, July 31 arrived, and Tai had a surprise for Jade. The night before he had spoken with the camp cook and arranged to have a small birthday cake, a cup cake really, made so that Jade would have something small just for her. It was made of chocolate and the cook had even found a little candle to use. So when Jade and Tai were sitting in their tree, Jade without shoes on because no one actually had shoes in her size, Tai presented her with her first ever birthday cake that she could remember.
"Happy Life Day Jade!" Tai stated when he handed over the cake. "Let me light the candle so that you can make a wish. Make it a good wish, because I couldn't fit nine candles on it. Ready?"
Jade had tears in her eyes as she accepted the cup cake, lit candle and all. She closed her eyes as instructed and made a wish to visit her dream world, for there she had felt completely safe and accepted. She blew out the candle and broke the cake in half to share with Tai. Her smile was contagious and Tai was grinning like a loon as he ate his half of the cake. He had another gift in his pockets for her, a bracelet that his sister had helped him to make before he left on camp. Kari had been unable to attend the camp due to a summer cold, but she had enjoyed helping him make the bracelet.
The bracelet had a charm on it with "Jade" written in traditional Japanese characters. The charm was interwoven with strands of black, green, red and blue, and Kari had come up with the little clasp that would prevent it from falling off her wrist. When Jade saw the bracelet her eyes just about overflowed with tears and she allowed Tai to tie it around her right wrist. Overwrought with emotion, Jade threw her arms around Tai's neck and silently cried into his neck. Tai just held her and once she was calm they sat together watching the other children play.
Tai had wanted to remain in the tree all day so as to avoid Dudley, and had even arranged for one of his friends to bring them a snack so that they wouldn't go hungry…not that Jade would complain about going hungry as she never complained about anything. However, his plans were in ruins when the sky opened up and blanketed the camp ground in snow. Snow! In a panic as the day had gone from warm to freezing instantly, Tai scurried down the tree and pulled Jade closer to him to protect her from the weather.
The nearest cabin was his, and already he could see that six others had crowded inside to wait out the storm. Shaking his head to clear his hair of snow, Tai collapsed on his bed with Jade next to him. Looking around the room he nodded to everyone he knew. Izzy was still on his bed, having moved from the balcony to indoors to prevent any damage from getting to his computer, and Matt and TK hadn't left yet so they were still inside. Sora and Joe were also amongst the group, though Joe was complaining about how he hadn't even wanted to go to summer camp, and Sora was gazing out the window in concern and confusion. The final person in the cabin was a girl dressed entirely in pink, and Tai was pretty sure that her name was Mimi.
"Weird weather," Tai commented to Matt, who happened to be the closest to him.
"Yeah," Matt agreed. "It's the middle of summer. Why's it snowing?"
"Don't know," Tai mumbled, before his eyes lit up. "Hey, we could have toboggan races!"
Jade's ears perked up at the thought of toboggan races. She had watched the billy carts race down the hill earlier in the week and wished that she could have joined in. Dudley had been in her way however, so she hadn't. But, with her shoes missing, and no spare shoes in the cabin she was currently in, her bare feet would freeze instantly when she went outside. Her eyes stared down at her feet miserably.
"Hey Jade, why so sad?" Sora asked. Jade looked up before wiggling her feet. Sora nodded in understanding before clicking her fingers as an idea struck her. "I can't do anything about your feet, but I do have my mini hairbrush with me. Can I brush your hair whilst the storm rages on? When it's over we can go find some shoes for you."
Jade nodded. Several times during the week she had sat in front of Sora by the lake whilst the girl brushed her hair. She loved it, and she knew that Sora loved to brush her hair simply because there was a lot of it. It hung down passed her shoulders and almost to her elbows, but she never did anything with it. Besides, it was soothing having someone else to brush her hair. It made her think of her mother, or how she imagined her mother would be if she were still alive.
"This storm is messing with my infrared internet connection," the boy with the computer mumbled, looking from his laptop to the phone in his hand. Jade looked at him serenely as the brush went through her hair, freeing it of tangles. Tai sighed next to her, but otherwise ignored his roommate.
"What's wrong with it?" Joe asked, sitting on the end of the red head's bed and looking over his shoulder at the computer.
"There's too much interference between here and the satellites," the boy explained as he shut the computer and returned it to his backpack, which instantly went onto his back. "It's not just a snow storm; it's an electrical storm of some description."
"I want to build a snow man," TK announced having taken Sora's spot by the window. "I'm going to make the biggest and bestest snowman out of everyone at camp!"
"I wish I brought my fluffy pink snow boots," the girl in pink declared. "They would be perfect for this weather. Daddy brought them for me last winter and I've only worn them a couple of times. Oh, I wish I had my fluffy pink gloves, and my fluffy pink scarf, and my fluffy pink beanie…"
"Mimi, quit complaining," Matt stated, though not completely unkindly. "Everyone's probably wishing for their snow gear, no one would have brought stuff like that to a summer camp. Maybe they'll cancel camp."
"I hope not," Tai stated in reply. "I don't want to go home just yet. And where would the English students go? Are they going to stay here or go home a week early?"
Jade shrugged. She didn't know what would happen to her, but whatever did happen didn't matter to her. She had just experienced the best week of her life, and she had had a birthday cake and received a birthday present that was for her and not something that used to belong to Dudley. Thinking of her present she glanced down at the bracelet and jiggled it on her wrist, a smile appearing on her face.
"Looks like the snow's stopped falling," Joe said, interrupting the silence that had fallen as they all stared at Jade.
"Yay! I'm getting started on my snowman!" TK cried.
"TK, be careful!" Matt ordered, following TK as he left the cabin at light speed. Sora put her brush away and stood to go outside. The wind brushed passed them all and Sora shivered, moaning about not bringing a jacket. Joe balked at the thought of going outside, muttering about colds and pneumonia, but Mimi pushed him from behind and he went sprawling in the snow. Tai pushed Jade out onto the balcony as the snow hadn't reached there yet, but it was still cold. So Jade jumped up onto the railing and swung her legs as she looked out at the field of white where originally there had been nothing but green.
"Whoa," Tai breathed, and Jade followed his eye line up. Her own eyes widened as she finally took in what was happening. Colourful ribbons covered the sky, blues, greens, whites and even some pinks, rippling and moving however they liked. Tai called out to the computer boy, who he called Izzy, and as soon as the boy was outside the comments started.
"It's so beautiful," Mimi declared. "Why it's magical even."
"Yeah," Izzy agreed slowly. "But what is it?"
Jade blinked at him. As he always had his head in a computer, and seemed knowledgeable about the storm that had surprised them, she had assumed that he would recognise whatever it was instantly. Instead Sora asked if it was an aurora.
"You mean Aurora Borealis, the northern lights?" Izzy asked her. "That's impossible. You see that in Alaska, we're way too far south."
"Tell that to the snow," Sora told him. Her eyes looked over a Jade and nodded seeing that her feet were clear off the ground. Joe shuffled nervously, walking backwards to the cabin,
"I really think we should get inside before we all come down with pneumonia."
"And miss this?" Matt asked incredulously. "The sky's like…short-circuiting."
Jade agreed with him, and didn't even need Tai's shout to see that something had changed. Directly ahead of them was a bright green spiral light, with seven distinct arms. It was slowly getting bigger, and from the centre was another light. An instant later the spiral became a collection of seven meteors rocketing through the sky to crash in front of the children. There were screams, and Matt shielded TK with his body, but no one was hurt. Jade ran towards Tai, her feet protesting at the sudden temperature drop.
"Is everyone alright?" Sora asked as the snow cloud cleared.
"We're still here," Matt announced, TK nodding as he stared around wide-eyed.
"That was scary," Mimi added, holding onto her pink cowboy hat.
"What was that?" Joe screamed in fear. Tai looked down at Jade, and her feet in the snow, before swinging her onto his back. Jade wrapped her arms around his neck as Izzy looked into one of the craters the meteors had created.
"Are they meteors?" he asked himself. The little craters started to glow blue, and the meteor rose into the air without anyone touching them. "Okay, so not meteors."
Tai reached out and grabbed his as it rose to chest height, his other hand keeping Jade on his back. The two of them studied it curiously, and from the corner of her eye Jade noticed everyone else grabbing the little devices. The device was palm sized and a pale blue colour. There were two darker blue buttons on the right side, oval in appearance, and on the left was another button more circular in appearance. In the centre was a screen, completely black, and surrounding the screen were runes of some kind. Finally, on the top left corner was what Jade could only describe as an antenna.
She wondered why she was the only one without one.
"What are these?" Sora asked in fascination.
"My guess is some sort of remote digital apparatus," Izzy explained.
"No instructions?" Joe asked. The devices chose that moment to activate. The screens lit up like a torch, the green glow blinding Jade momentarily. But it was as the light hit Jade's eyes that something in her mind changed. The devices looked familiar, like she had seen them before, like she had seen them in a dream.
"Oh no!" Mimi cried in horror, one hand holding the device and the other her hat.
"Forget the instructions!" Tai ordered, taking one step back and shielding Jade as best as he could. "Surf's up!"
The ground before them split apart and a wall of water rose up to blot out the sky. Jade felt a pull and then she was flying sideways through the air. During the movement she lost contact with Tai, and as she flew she noticed that the water had turned into a bridge of some kind, leading them to where they needed to go. Warmth flooded through her body, supporting her and guiding her, and after a brief flash of colour there was nothing but darkness.
Waking up was a strange and slightly painful experience. First there was too much light, and then there was loud screaming, and then chilling silence. Jade forced her body to sit up, and then she blinked as she couldn't recognise any of her surroundings. It looked like she was in the middle of a forest, but that was impossible because there hadn't been that many trees at camp. It was also a lot warmer than camp. Crossing her legs, Jade rested her hands in her lap and looked around, trying to spot anyone she knew.
When nothing made sense, which hadn't taken long, Jade stood and started to walk in a random direction in the hope of spotting something familiar.
Where am I? Jade thought with a touch of fear. Her ears could pick up a range of different sounds, and as scared as she was becoming she knew that she had heard the same sounds before. Her dream world had similar sounds when the protectors fought each other, but her dream world wasn't a real place, it was just a sanctuary that she had created in her loneliness to give her hope.
"Somebody help me!"
Jade spun at the scream. That had been Mimi. She ran in the direction of the sound, leaping over small rocks and bushes, and straight into the path of a giant red and black bug. Her eyes went wide as the bug's pincers came closer to her and her body froze. A gaping mouth containing razor sharp teeth opened wider as the bug came closer. The bug, which looked like a beetle but only hundreds of times bigger than an actual beetle, roared at her and an emotion that wasn't fear brushed over her. Sadness, loneliness and hunger invaded her senses, and then a pink ball-like creature with long ears collided with her, pushing her out of the path.
"Do you want to be Kuwagamon food?" the pink thing asked. "Why didn't you move away?"
Jade blinked at the pink thing, before her eyes sought out the beetle. She connected the image in her mind with the name Kuwagamon, it seemed so familiar to her, but she only had a vague idea why.
"Jade? Are you alright?"
Jade looked up as Tai appeared in front of her, and the pink thing jumped into his arms. She took a shuddering breath before pulling her knees to her chest and burying her head in her knees. Her human ball shape was something that Ms Rein was very familiar with as she often took on ball form for a few minutes after recess and lunchtime each day to calm down.
"Is she alright?" Jade heard the pink thing ask.
"I don't know Koromon," Tai replied. "Jade? Are you hurt?"
Jade shook her head, adding another image and name to her mental list. Koromon had just saved her life, but she still had no idea what she had felt before he had knocked her over. At the time she hadn't felt particularly sad or lonely, but she was always hungry, yet at the same time she knew that the feelings hadn't been hers. She had a strange feeling that she had been able to feel Kuwagamon's emotions.
"Jade's here too?" Sora asked. "Is she hurt?"
"She doesn't look to be," Tai replied. "Come on Jade, you're safe here. We're all here as well."
Jade looked up slightly, her fringe hiding her eyes but allowing her to see everyone. Every child who had caught one of the devices also had a little creature beside them or in their arms. Sora has a little pink thing next to her, but unlike Koromon it had a blue flower on top of its head. It was feminine in appearance, and its green eyes were much more pleasant to look at than Koromon's red eyes.
By Izzy's feet was another pink creature that was less like a ball and more like a mini ghost with little stumps for hands. This creature had brown eyes, and was currently staring at Jade with a lot of curiosity. Next to Izzy was Joe, and his little creature was hanging onto his shoulder. This creature wasn't pink at all; instead it was a dark grey seal type creature with a white underbelly, blue eyes and a tuft of orange hair sticking up on the top of its head. Matt's creature was a ball with light brown fur covering most of it, white fur over its face, brown eyes and a wicked looking horn protruding from its forehead. TK's creature was like a white pig, with long ears, fangs, black eyes and four little legs. And finally was Mimi's creature. This creature had four legs as well, but was green with two green leaves sitting on top of its head. Its face was white and it had red eyes, but overall Jade thought that it looked like a plant that had decided to one day stand up and walk around.
Jade's eyes wandered back to Tai, and she lifted her head a little more so that they could at least see her eyes. Tai held out his hand for hers, and after staring at it for a moment Jade grabbed it, allowing Tai to pull her to her feet. There was a roar in the distance and each child and creature instinctively looked towards it.
"He's coming back!" Tai cried out unnecessarily. "Get down!"
As everyone dropped to the ground Tai pulled Jade close to him to protect her. He had noticed that while everyone else had a partner, Jade had been alone. Jade looked at Kuwagamon who had knocked them to the ground. He was flying back for another pass at them, and she wondered what was motivating him. Did this creature, despite feeling lonely, want to be alone? Is that why he was chasing them away? Or was this some kind of game that they didn't know the rules for?
"Will this nightmare never end?" Joe asked dramatically, climbing to his feet. "My mom is going to want a complete and total refund!"
"Here he comes again," Matt warned.
"Start running!" Tai ordered. "There's no way we can fight that thing and win!"
"Good plan," Sora agreed, already turning to run with her little creature moving with her. Everyone ran after her, the roar of Kuwagamon on their heels. Jade's hand was safely secured in Tai's as she was dragged along. She was a fast runner normally, needing to run from Dudley and his gang all the time, but Tai was a champion soccer player and was way faster than her. The two of them shot into the lead, but Jade figured they had made a wrong turn at one point due to the fact that as they left the protection of the trees they ended up standing on a plateau.
"Great," Matt gasped as they came to a stop. "Did anyone bring a helicopter?"
Tai released Jade's hand and started to walk towards the end of the plateau, clearly intending to look for a way down. Sora cautioned him to be careful, and since she wasn't anywhere near the edge Jade crept closer to her and fisted her hand into the older girl's shirt. Sora looked down at her in concern, and wrapped her arm around Jade's shoulders comfortingly.
"There's no way down," Tai announced. "We're going to have to find another way."
"Another way to where?" Sora asked. Jade blinked her agreement, but before Tai could answer there was another roar behind them and Kuwagamon appeared. The children flattened themselves on the ground, with Sora holding Jade protectively. Jade looked up after the wind had died down and gasped when she saw that Kuwagamon was making a return attack at Tai. Sora looked up at her gasp and shouted out a warning to Tai. Tai started to run, but everyone could see that he wouldn't make it to safety.
And then Koromon darted forward and attacked Kuwagamon with tiny pink bubbles, causing no damage but throwing off Kuwagamon's flight trajectory so that Tai wouldn't be hurt. Jade's heart ached with longing when she saw the protectiveness of Koromon and the other creatures when they leapt forward to drive Kuwagamon away from the other children.
"Yokomon!" Sora cried as the little pink thing with a blue flower on its head leapt up in front of her. Kuwagamon crashed into the trees behind them, and as soon as he was down the children were up and running for their partners. Tai was holding Koromon, and Sora was holding Yokomon, but as the children moved Jade was able to give a name to each creature.
Matt picked up Tsunomon, the creature with the horn on its head; TK gathered Tokomon, the white creature with long ears, into his arms; Joe went to Bukamon, the dark grey seal; Izzy lifted Motimon, the waddling ghost, with amazement and awe; and Mimi pulled Tanemon, the walking plant, onto her lap. Jade was left standing on her own, and the longing in her chest grew stronger. Each of the children before her had a partner that was willing to fight a creature far stronger than they were, simply because they cared about their human companion and wanted to make a good impression. Jade turned her face from the scene, her arms wrapping around her body in self-comfort.
Anger suddenly invaded her senses, though it wasn't her own. A roar from Kuwagamon, who had apparently decided that it was better to be lonely than to be attacked, echoed across the plateau and the trees that had broken his fall were pushed aside easily. Jade watched, frozen to the spot, as the giant red and black beetle walked towards them clicking his pincers together. She felt sorry for him.
"Jade! Get back!" Matt ordered. At his voice Jade blinked, breaking through her immovability, and turned to run to the others. She stood behind them, putting herself fairly close to the edge of the plateau, but she didn't really see much of a choice as they were stuck between a drop and an angry insect. They had trapped themselves.
"Okay," Tai stated. "Get ready to run."
"No!" Koromon stated. "We stand and fight! It's the only way out of this!"
"Give it a rest already!" Tai snapped back. "You're injured!"
The other creatures echoed Koromon's statements in their own way, and all seven of them leapt forward. Jade's chest hurt, and she whimpered as she pressed her hands against it. The devices that the children had attached to their person erupted with light, and their creature partners began to glow and change. From beyond her pain, Jade could hear the creatures shouting:
"Koromon digivolve to – Agumon!"
"Yokomon digivolve to – Biyomon!"
"Motimon digivolve to – Tentomon!"
"Tsunomon digivolve to – Gabumon!"
"Tokomon digivolve to – Patamon!"
"Bukamon digivolve to – Gomamon!"
"Tanemon digivolve to – Palmon!"
The pain in her chest faded, and Jade sunk to her knees. When she opened her eyes and stared ahead, the little creatures weren't so little anymore. There was now a little orange dinosaur, a pink bird, a green plant like creature, a flying robot insect, a pig whose wings were its ears, a white and purple seal like creature, and a creature wearing a fur coat with a yellow horn sprouting from its head.
The creatures attacked Kuwagamon together, and their attacks were a lot stronger now. Kuwagamon was pushed back again, but while the others celebrated with their larger partners, Jade could feel the anger getting stronger. Her arms went around her body again, hugging herself so that she could pretend that there was someone holding her. She wanted to be safe, that's all she wanted, that's all she'd ever wanted.
The children screamed as Kuwagamon returned again, but this time instead of attacking them directly he jammed his pincers into the ground and broke off the edge of the plateau. They all fell as the laws of gravity took hold. As the closest to the edge Jade fell first, and she screamed the whole way down.
The three creatures who could fly grabbed a hold of their partners: Sora, TK and Izzy, but as they were only recently changed or evolved, they were unable to maintain flight and they fell anyway. The green plant like creature grabbed a hold of Mimi and used its vines to grab a hold of the rock wall. It was a good idea but with how unstable Kuwagamon had made the cliff the rocks crumbled and they continued to fall as well.
Jade hit the water first, and for a brief moment she considered not struggling at all. Joe hit the water after her, and his partner who had become the white and purple seal like creature summoned a school of fish to act as a raft for them. The fish appeared under Jade and lifted her above the water. She coughed and spluttered as her body fought to expel the water she had swallowed, and she looked up as the other children landed on the raft.
The former plateau landed in the water behind them, creating giant waves that nearly sent them all off the makeshift raft. High above them Kuwagamon let out a mournful cry before disappearing again, and Jade imagined that she knew exactly how it felt. She really wanted a friend as well.
Once the waves died down the fish raft let the children and creatures get off near the shore, where each of them sat down in relief. Jade sat on the fringes of the group, not feeling like she belonged at all. She curled up into her human ball again as her eyes flickered from person to person, and creature to creature. She still didn't know what the little creatures were.
"I knew we'd be okay, I wasn't worried," Matt told everyone. Jade's eyes snapped to him and if she had been a little braver she probably would have thrown a rock at him.
"What was that?" Joe asked, ignoring Matt. "A floating fish market?"
"Lucky for us those fish were having a school reunion," the white and purple creature quipped with a grin. Joe looked at him incredulously. "I'm kidding. Those fish are good friends of mine and I just asked them for a lift."
"And all these years I thought I was allergic to seafood!" Joe replied with a happy grin. "Thank you! Ah, I guess it's not Bukamon?"
"I'm Gomamon now!"
Jade looked at Gomamon, even as the other children questioned their partners. TK's partner changed from Tokomon to Patamon, the tan and white pig with ear wings; Izzy's partner went from Motimon to Tentomon, the reddish pink and purple flying robot insect; Sora's partner went from Yokomon to Biyomon, the pink bird with a silver brace on her left foot; Matt's partner went from Tsunomon to Gabumon, the yellow creature wearing a blue fur coat and a wicked yellow horn sticking out of his forehead; Mimi's partner went from Tanemon to Palmon, the green plant like creature with a pink flower in the place of hair; and Tai's partner went from Koromon to Agumon, the orange dinosaur.
"It's all because we digivolved!" Agumon explained.
"So digivolving is what happens when they advance to the next level and become more powerful than before," Izzy theorised.
"When you digivolved you certainly got way bigger," Tai observed. "Does this mean that you're something different now or are you still digimon?"
"Digimon," Agumon replied. "But I needed you help Tai!"
"For what?"
"You see, digivolving is a very difficult process. In order to be successful I had to share your energy."
Jade blinked again. So the creatures were actually called digimon, and they were linked to their partners. Jade knew that what she had just heard was familiar, and she silently promised herself that she would never make another birthday wish if this is what she would get. She began to think that during the snow storm she had hit her head and was now hallucinating about her dream world, though what she had just been through felt more real than any of her dreams had.
"I'm not a stranger Joe!" Gomamon said after Joe mentioned he was uncomfortable sharing energy with strangers. "I'm your friend for life!"
Gomamon sounded hurt and looking over at his miserable face Jade briefly felt that same hurt. She shook her head to rid herself of the feeling. Her dreams never had her feeling emotions that weren't hers. The conversation around her continued along a different train of thought, so she rested her head on her knees again. She was now wet, and had a headache, and her chest hurt and was feeling more miserable than usual. She hoped that everything was just a dream and she would wake up.
"Jade, we're leaving now. Are you alright?"
Jade looked up at Tai, hiding nothing on her face. While the other kids might not realise the danger they were in due to the fact that they had protectors, Jade was alone and she was scared. Tai helped her to stand, but instead of getting her to walk he put her on his back piggyback style, and carried her away from the river. She looped her hands around his neck weakly, lacking the motivation to do much else.
Tai walked at the front of the group and Jade figured that it was because he liked to be in charge of his own destiny. He was a leader, and that's why he was the star on his soccer team. He had the ability to inspire people, and the take charge in a sea of turmoil. Jade was glad that he was with them.
"Once I get back this is going to make one great story," Tai stated a little while down the track. His eyes glanced back at Jade who was hiding her head in the junction of his neck and shoulders, not paying attention to anything. "Of course, not a single soul would ever believe me. Maybe I could write it down like you Jade. This does seem to be a bit like your dream world, doesn't it? There are creatures here of different shapes, sizes and personalities. And there are some who protect us."
Jade nodded slightly, proving that she was listening to him. She agreed with Tai, but how had she been able to dream about a world like this one? The Digital World was a real place, had she been to it before when she was younger? She just didn't know anything anymore.
Gabumon announced that they were near the beach, and Gomamon, who was swimming, laughed in delight as the water he was swimming in changed from fresh to salt. TK laughed as well, mind focused on building the biggest sandcastle, walking that little bit quicker so as to arrive faster, and Mimi groaned as she hadn't brought her bathing suit with her.
"Wait a minute!" Matt called. "Can you hear that? Listen!"
Everyone stopped, and Jade lifted her head a little to hear the sound better. Floating on the wind was a shrill ringing. Each of them recognised the sound of the phone, and before anyone could think of anything to do they were running forwards. The ringing became louder until five phone booths sitting innocently on the beach were visible. Even with Jade on his back Tai was in the lead, though as soon as he opened the door to the ringing phone booth, the ringing stopped.
"Why'd it stop ringing Tai?" Agumon asked.
"Wrong number?" Tai told him uncertainly.
"That's bizarre," Sora noted.
"My theory is aliens," Izzy explained seriously. "They've obviously set these phone booths out as a trap."
"If we can find a place that delivers, let's order pizza," Matt suggested.
"Whatever you get, no anchovies for me!" Mimi told him.
"The question is, what are these booths doing here at the beach?" Sora asked, casting a slightly disapproving glance towards Matt and Mimi. Jade slid off Tai's back but kept her hand attached to his shirt. The other children crowded around them but not for long as the lure of calling home became too much and they darted towards a pay phone each. Jade had never used a phone before, even in pretend, and saw no reason to rectify that knowledge any time soon. Instead she made her way over to Gomamon had hugged him.
"What's that for?" Gomamon asked curiously. Jade squeezed him a little tighter and whispered into his ear.
"For saving us all."
It was the most she'd spoken in years, not that the digimon would understand that. Gomamon's white fur took on a reddish tinge as he blushed, a tinge that became darker as the other digimon spoke their thanks. Jade, with Gomamon still in her arms, walked further up the beach so that they could rest in the shade of the rocky cliffs. One by one, the other children joined her having given up on calling for help. That is, every child aside from Joe who appeared to be trying to call every phone number he knew.
"Very curious, does Joe always behave like this?" Izzy asked, staring at back at Joe.
"Every single day," Tai replied. He had taken a seat next to Agumon, and the two of them were comfortably reclined.
"No matter what number, or how many times he dials, those phones aren't going to work," Matt added.
"Well, I'm going to keep searching for a boat of something," Tai said, standing up smoothly.
"Hey wait a minute!" Matt cried. "Even though we can't call out of here, there's always a chance that someone might be able to call into us."
"It's a waste of time doing nothing but sitting here," Tai told him.
"I'm going to stay here for a while in case anyone calls," Matt shot back. "Besides, everyone could use a little rest."
Tai's eyes panned over the group who were sitting still, exhausted. He and Jade stared at each other, but after a moment he nodded and looked back towards Matt. Izzy was standing next to him, and decided to add his own voice to the discussion.
"I'm getting hungry."
"You know why? Because we haven't eaten anything all day," Tai told the younger boy. "That snow storm interrupted us. Break time everyone!"
Jade, as well as everyone else nearby, relaxed in relief. Whilst Jade had eaten her chocolate birthday cake earlier that morning, it had only been a few mouthfuls and her stomach was beginning to protest the lack of food in it…again. Sora asked if anyone had food with them, rummaging around in her pockets as she spoke, before pulling out the device that had pulled them into the Digital World. No one said anything about Jade not having one, for which she was grateful, but the conversation didn't last long as the need for food outweighed the need for knowledge.
Sora had a few medical supplies in her belt bag, nothing edible, but if one of them got hurt Sora would be able to use her bandages to fix them up. Izzy had his computer gear and Tai had his mini telescope. Matt had nothing, but TK's backpack was filled with snacks that he had snuck onto the camp. Jade wondered how the boy had kept his secret stash hidden for two weeks, or if he had spent his money at the convenience store that was just a short walk from the camp. Mimi was the biggest surprise though; she had a huge assortment of camping supplies like a pocket knife, cooking fuel, flashlight and a compass. Jade only had her toiletries, her blanket that was still wet and would need to dry, pens and wet paper, and her water bottle. Her passport was with Ms Rein to prevent it from getting lost.
When the others were moaning about the lack of food, Tai had noticed that Joe was carrying the bag of emergency supplies. The atmosphere lightened and Joe finally abandoned the phone booths to assist in the equal division of food. Gomamon decided that he wanted to go swimming, and leapt away gracefully until his body could submerge under the gentle waves on the water.
With the group in a circle, Jade found herself between Tai and Mimi. Mimi was listening patiently as Joe and Izzy worked out the mathematics involved, but Tai had grabbed the nearest jar of biscuits and was showing Agumon what human food tasted like. Tai also gave a few biscuits to Jade, and she ate them slowly with a smile on her face. Joe started to scold Tai, but before he could say much more Biyomon stood up with a frown.
"Now what's the matter?" Sora asked, turning away from the quarrel between Joe and Tai.
"Trouble," Biyomon explained. Everyone turned to follow the pink bird's gaze, in time to witness a geyser erupting from the sand not far from them. The geyser moved sideways, and the phone booths were demolished instantly. Tai grabbed Jade's hand, pulling her away as quickly as he could. Jade looked back at where their bags were still sitting, and momentarily contemplated going back for hers.
Get off my beach…
The sound gently brushed Jade's mind, though nothing was gentle about the anger behind it. That anger dissuaded Jade from returning for her bag. A digimon that bore some resemblance to a hermit crab, though many times larger, rose from the sand with a growl. Tentomon explained that Shellmon, the digimon in front of them, got mad for no reason.
Shellmon's shell was greyish blue in colour, with many sharp spikes. Shellmon's body, when it appeared from the shell, was bright pink with a head like a dinosaur and two massive arms that were used to drag the shell along the ground. Shellmon's hair had the consistency of seaweed, and was a similar colour to seaweed as well. When he attacked, a jet of high pressured water exploded from the centre of his seaweed hair.
The digimon leapt forward to defend their partners, but aside from Agumon, not one of them had any effect on their opponent. Jade was still standing with Tai, though the reason for that was Tai hadn't released her hand yet. Agumon leapt forward again, being the only one able to fight, whilst the other kids gathered their digimon partners, discovering that in order to fight successfully, digimon needed food just as much if not more than humans did.
"Looks like it's just you and me Agumon!" Tai called.
"Then give me a diversion!" Agumon ordered. Tai released Jade's hand, placing it on her head briefly in reassurance, before running forward and waving his hands like a maniac.
"Hey Shellmon! Ugly! Over here!"
Shellmon turned to face the human boy, and Jade covered her mouth in horror. It was like watching a car accident, too painful to watch but impossible to turn away from. Tai's diversion had worked though, and Agumon landed a powerful blast of fire. Tai spotted a long pole from the smashed up phone booths and used it as a battering ram against the soft underbelly that was visible from Tai's height. Shellmon revealed that his hair was more than just decorative, and used a single strand to wrap around Tai's waist, lifting him high into the air.
Tai screamed as Shellmon tightened his grip, crushing Tai's ribs. More water hit the children who could do nothing but watch, and Agumon was buried under Shellmon's hand. The whole situation seemed hopeless. Tai screamed again, his pain broadcasting just fine. Jade's chest started to hurt again, and both her hands clutched at it. Her eyes narrowed in on Tai, and she screamed his name in fear.
"TAI!"
Tai's device started to glow like it had earlier, and a matching light came from Agumon under Shellmon's hand. Shellmon lifted his hand from Agumon, his attention momentarily caught by confusion, and Agumon digivolved.
"Agumon digivolve to – Greymon!"
Greymon was an orange dinosaur that looked like a T-Rex, with blue stripes across his back and tail. His head had some form of brown helmet, protection for when he wanted to solve his problems by using his head, and three horns: two where his ears might have been, and one shooting up from his nose. He crashed into Shellmon.
Shellmon was unsettled, and in the push Tai was released. He went flying through the air before crashing onto the sand with a pained grunt. Jade was by his side before he could sit up, and her arms wrapped around him. The pain in her chest was lesser now, but it was still there, and the anger she was feeling was stronger than earlier. She knew that the anger came from Shellmon. Tai wrapped his arms around her comfortingly, even though his eyes were focused on Shellmon and Greymon. Jade too, turned to look, though she didn't move from Tai's side.
Greymon and Shellmon stared at each other as if they were in a sumo wrestling match. Neither moved, and then Shellmon grew impatient and strode across the sand to head butt Greymon's chest. Greymon didn't move under the pressure, and used his strong hands to push Shellmon back. Seeing that being physical wasn't working, Shellmon let loose another sprout of water, and Greymon let loose a hose of fire. The two elements met in mid-air creating a cloud of steam. Shellmon ran out of water first, but before he could recover Greymon threw him into the air and sent him flying with another fire attack.
Greymon started to glow again, but instead of getting bigger he became smaller until he was Agumon again. Jade was reluctant to let go of Tai, but she did anyway because he wanted to see if Agumon was alright. She hugged herself while the children decided that it would be in their best interests to feed the digimon so that their energy levels could be refreshed. On his way back to the group, Tai threw his spare arm across Jade's shoulder as his other one was resting on Agumon's head, and led her to the others so that she would be included.
"There's no point in staying here now," Tai decided as they watched the digimon eat. Jade was still by his side though her head now rested against his chest. His heartbeat thumped strongly under her ear.
"Who wants to break the news to Joe?" Matt asked. Joe was amongst the rubble of the phone booths, still unwilling to give up that help could be requested.
"Shellmon wasn't destroyed," Izzy pointed out, "Just temporarily removed. We should pack up and leave before he decides he wants to come back for round two."
"Good idea," Matt agreed.
"In that case," Joe shrilly exclaimed, standing up and leaving the ruined phone booths. "We should go back to the forest because if anyone's looking for us that's where they'll go!"
"Joe, we've had this conversation before," Sora said gently, "Even if there are people looking for us back at camp we're clearly so far from there that they might not even know where to start looking, besides all that we fell off a mountain and floated down a river to get here and getting back is a really big job."
"Plus if we go back up there we could run into Kuwagamon," Mimi added with a shudder.
"Listen, aliens aside, logically speaking if there are phones here there must be people around to use them," Izzy speculated. "So, I think it makes good sense to try and find those people."
"That makes sense?" said Joe sceptically.
"It certainly does," Sora said.
Jade nodded as well, though she didn't really think there'd be other people around. The digimon finished eating their snacks, and judging by their happy smiles they were quite satisfied. Jade slipped from Tai's hold, though she knew that he was watching her even as he continued to speak with the older kids. She walked over to where Agumon was, and like with Gomamon, she pulled the little dinosaur into a hug. She didn't say anything, though she knew that Agumon had gotten the message.
"You're welcome Jade," he said. "Don't worry; we'll protect you as well. You'll be safe with us."
Jade smiled and returned to the others. They had decided to leave the beach, so with her hand linked with Tai's she walked. Her backpack was once again safely with her, though she lamented the fact she wasn't wearing shoes. As she walked she wondered what they would find next.
Why were they in the Digital World?
Next up in Intertwined Destinies:
Chapter 3: Howl at the Moon