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 6: Going Up?
The following morning Jade woke up feeling oddly energetic. She was also amongst the first to wake so she got out of the bed she didn't remember going to sleep on and walked around to explore a little. She waved to Gabumon who was also awake before leaving without making a sound. She strolled through Toy Town, playing with a few of the toys she walked passed along the way.
"Little one, what are you doing up?"
Jade turned around and looked up at Monzaemon. She grinned and waved, running over to him. Monzaemon lifted her off the ground and settled her on his shoulder.
"The others are still sleeping, so I decided to walk around for a bit before we head off," Jade explained. "How are you feeling?"
"Better now that I've slept," Monzaemon stated. "Those Black Gears are vile. But I felt the strangest thing while it was controlling me. There was this strange feeling of warmth and light that fought back against the gear. And for a brief moment as Togemon attacked me, I'm pretty sure that I saw her…the Sovereign."
Jade assumed that Togemon was the cactus digimon, but aside from that bit of information she was more than curious about the Sovereign. She asked Monzaemon to explain what he meant a little more.
"When I was a Numemon a long time ago," Monzaemon began. "I saw the battle between the Sovereign and a dark digimon whose name I don't know. I had never seen him before. But I do remember feeling cold when he came too close to my brothers and me, and then I remember the warmth and happiness that grew inside of me when the Sovereign stood in front of us. It didn't matter that we Numemon were considered the dregs of the Digital World, the Sovereign fought to protect us anyway."
"So, when you saw her when you battled Togemon, what did you mean?"
"The same warmth I felt when I digivolved into Monzaemon after the battle filled me. I knew that she was nearby. And then I saw her, she was a silhouette against the sun, but I will never forget her figure. All that was missing were her wings, but I assumed they were folding into her back. When I turned to look for her, after the Black Gear was gone, I couldn't find her. I would dearly love to see her again. Her power helped me to digivolve you know?"
"What happened to her?"
"Don't know. One day the darkness was stronger than the light and I heard that the Sovereign had been sent away. I think it was Centarumon who told me, he said that the Sovereign had been cast from the Digital World, but that one day she would return. This is her home after all."
Jade nodded slowly and looked around. Maybe Monzaemon had imagined seeing the Sovereign, and she certainly hadn't been on the roof until she was looking for the children. Maybe there had been another digimon in Toy Town who had disappeared as soon as the battle was over so that she wouldn't be seen. Jade didn't know, she was, however, happy that there were no Black Gears nearby. She disliked feeling the darkness.
"There you are Jade!"
Jade looked down and waved at Matt. He called back to the others inside the house and they all came out to see her and Monzaemon. Jade hopped back onto the ground and walked over to the group.
"Where are you headed?" Monzaemon asked as the children made preparations to leave. Tai pointed towards the tallest mountain on the island and Monzaemon nodded.
"Infinity Mountain," he said. "What are you hoping to find up there?"
"A way home," Sora explained. "It's were we first started when we got to this world, and we're hoping that we'll be able to find a way home up there as well."
"Well, good luck to you, and know that you will always be welcome in Toy Town."
"Thank-you, Monzaemon!"
Jade waved from the back of the group before jogging after the group. She hummed a little tune that had come to her in the middle of the night, and she didn't want to forget it. It was familiar, but also full of promise. Now if she could only remember the words…
"I know this is no day at the beach, Joe," Gomamon whined. "But that's no reason to be a worrywart about to make all your friends unhappy. Pardon the pun but, chill out! Only you have a problem with the cold. Right guys? Think warm."
"I'm allergic to fur," Joe moaned. Mimi and TK shivered at the back of the group, their arms wrapped around their bodies for warmth. Jade was certain she was turning blue, and she couldn't stop shivering. She had been cold doing chores for the Dursleys during the middle of winter, but this was so much worse. At least back in England she had been wearing shoes.
They had been walking all day, and the sun was going down. They probably had another hour or two before they would need to stop due to inability to see. The only problem was that they had yet to find somewhere nice and warm. Everywhere was freezing.
"Ah, come on you guys, the cold isn't that terrible," Tai stated. Izzy gaped at him.
"Perhaps not if you were a polar bear or a penguin," he said.
"Yeah, but if it snows, we'll throw some snowballs!" Tai rebutted.
"And make snowmen!" Mimi added with excitement.
"Who do you reckon Snowmon is?" Gomamon asked Gabumon.
"A digimon from their planet," Gabumon replied.
Jade stopped walking and watched as the conversation unfolded. She figured that Tentomon was hungry as every question he had was if snowmen, snowballs and igloos were edible. Joe was the voice of reason, and the only one who was worrying about what would happen when night came. Sora was trying to convince him to think positively, but Joe wasn't too keen on listening to that argument.
Jade continued to walk, but she agreed with Joe. They had been able to camp outside every night since arriving in the Digital World, but now that it was colder they wouldn't be able to do so unless they wanted to freeze. She shivered as the darkness of more Black Gears passing overhead distracted her. That was the third wave of that morning, and she had a terrible feeling about whoever was controlling them. She walked further forward, jumping up and down a few times to keep the blood pumping through her veins. She looked up to survey the terrain ahead, and gasped in shock.
The others looked up at her gasp, and they darted forward to see what had captured her attention.
"What's all this white stuff?" Gomamon asked.
"It's a field of snow!" Mimi exclaimed. "There's bound to be a ski resort nearby!"
"Oh man! This is much worse than even I thought it was!" Joe cried in horror.
"What now guys?" Sora asked. TK, Mimi and most of the digimon were out running through the snow, though Jade was still standing on the ground that hadn't been snowed on. She hated the feel of cold snow under her feet, it chilled her whole body. She didn't think she could afford to get even colder, if she turned any bluer there was a high chance she would become a snow block.
"I think we should keep going," Tai said. "We're not going to get anywhere just sitting here."
"If we walk across the field in our sneakers our toes will go numb," Matt warned. "And Jade's not wearing shoes at all remember."
"It's impossible to continue!" Joe cried.
"So what are we supposed to do?" Tai asked, turning to look at Joe. "Just stand here like a bunch of dorks? We either go across the field or climb up that big mountain. Come over here Jade; get your feet off the ground."
Jade flitted across the ground and hopped onto Tai's back, despite the frown that the other children were giving him. She cuddled as close to his back as she could, and wished that she was back in the desert because then at least she had been warm. Agumon started to sniff the air, and the smell of sulphur floated over to the group. The thoughts of a hot spring spurned the group on and soon they were all running for the steam column in the distance.
The hot springs were really hot, so hot that they would cook if they so much as touched the inky water. Jade positioned herself near the edge as soon as Tai put her down and held her feet up so that the heat would warm them. The warmth felt wonderful on her skin, and she felt that she could easily drift off to sleep with no regard for anything else.
"Uh oh, this water is much too hot," Tai stated, keeping a close eye on Jade so that she wouldn't fall in unexpectedly.
"We'd be cooked if we jumped in this," Tentomon stated.
"Yes," Izzy agreed from behind Tentomon. "Boiled."
"Well, there go by big dreams of a nice warm bath," Mimi lamented.
"It looks so inviting," Palmon stated with a smile.
"Well, it would be inviting if you were a vegetable," Matt agreed.
"What's a little dirt compared to starving?" Joe asked. "We need to find something to eat and there's nothing in sight!"
"Oh yes there is," TK said.
"What are you talking about?" Joe asked the young boy. "There's nothing here but a bunch of rocks and boiling water!"
"Look!" TK ordered, pointing off to the side. Joe turned to follow the other boy's finger, and his jaw dropped.
"Tell me I'm not imagining this," he begged. Jade turned to look as well and blinked as she saw a refrigerator sitting innocently on the ground. She wondered what food would be in the refrigerator, but made no move of her own to find out. She was quite comfortable sitting by the hot spring. The children and digimon crowded around the fridge, except for Joe who was clearly uncomfortable in what he perceived as stealing.
Tai opened the fridge and discovered that there were dozens upon dozens of eggs waiting to be cooked and eaten.
"There must be a zillion of them," Agumon breathed with wide eyes.
"Yeah! Grub on!" Tai called. "These will keep us all fat for a month!"
"Wait a minute! You shouldn't even touch them!" Joe called. "We don't know if they're fit for human consumption!"
"Then I'll be the guineapig!" Tai stated cheerfully. "If I turn purple you'll know they aren't edible."
"There's more to it than that," Joe told him with a frown. "Even if they were edible they don't belong to us. That would make us all thieves! You gotta think about stuff like that Tai!"
"Unless you're in to eating rocks we don't have too much choice," Matt said testily.
"I'm sure they'd say yes if they knew we were in trouble," Sora added.
"Exactly," Izzy said. "We'd tell them it's an emergency situation."
"Rationalise away," Tentomon told his partner.
Jade looked over at the group before leaving her warm spot and standing by Joe. She took his arm and looked up at him with wide eyes. He caved under her look, sighing and agreeing to help prepare dinner.
With excitement the children started to prepare for dinner. The digimon carved bowls out of tree parts using their teeth and claws, whilst Joe was elected to sharpen chopsticks. TK and Patamon boiled some eggs in a makeshift basket by dunking it into the cleaner hot spring, Tai and Izzy collected the wood for Joe, and Sora and Biyomon cooked the rest of the food and tended to the fire. Jade was curious about what they were making, so she went over to watch.
"We'd be in big trouble if someone got sick," Joe muttered to himself as Jade walked passed. "No doctors here, you know? Why do I always have to be the one to think about these things?"
Jade stopped walking and looked up at Joe. The older boy was really feeling down, and the fact that they'd been in the Digital World for four days was probably weighing heavily on his mind. She sat on the rock next to him and watched him work. He didn't seem to notice her presence. She wondered what he was really bothering him.
"Dinner's ready!"
Jade looked towards Tai who was waving at them from the fire pit. She grinned and slid off her rock. With a quick glance at Joe, who had been surprised when she moved, she grabbed his hand and dragged him over. She sat down next to Tai as a bowl was put in front of her with two sticks. She held the sticks curiously, and watched as everyone else used them to eat. While she had had the option of using chopsticks on camp, she still preferred to use a knife and fork, or her fingers if there weren't any around. Mimi handed the girl her pocket knife that also had a knife and fork attachment. Jade grinned her appreciation and dug in to her eggs.
"Oh yeah!" Tai exclaimed happily. "I haven't had a meal like this in a long time! My stomach's chiming!"
"If we had some ketchup to go with this, it would be perfect," Matt added. TK groaned his approval.
"That sounds gross," Sora told Matt. Jade laughed. When she cooked eggs for her relatives, she usually added ham, tomato, onions, capsicum and an eclectic mix of herbs and spices. There hadn't been any complaints about the final result, so she assumed that it tasted alright. She had never eaten it herself.
"What's the matter Joe?" Gomamon asked. "You haven't eaten anything. You'll be as thin as Jade if you stop eating."
Jade blinked at Gomamon, and once he was looking at her she stuck her tongue out at him. She laughed lightly before returning to her eggs, and eating quickly.
"I was just thinking that if we were able to go home ketchup wouldn't be a problem," Joe replied sadly, not noticing the interaction between Jade and Gomamon. "Oh well."
"Now I'm homesick," Mimi declared sadly. "How depressing."
"I want to go home," TK added.
"It's been four days since we've been here," Izzy explained. "I wonder if anyone's tried to find out where we are."
"Cheer up!" Sora ordered, staring around at the sad faces. "Tell me how you like your eggs and I'll do my very best."
"I prefer my eggs to be covered in salt and pepper," Joe said. "But I guess it doesn't matter."
"I like soy sauce," Tai said with a grin.
"How about salsa?" asked Matt.
"How about a reality check?" Sora told them.
"I'll have mine with mustard and jellybeans please," Izzy requested. Tai laughed even as Izzy's request was met with both laughter and intrigue. TK was particularly interested in trying out jellybeans with his eggs, while Jade went a little green imagining the contrast in flavours. She wasn't one to turn down food considering how irregularly she got it, but she didn't think that she would ever accept such a weird combination.
"You're both weird," Mimi informed them. "My favourite is eggs topped with maple syrup! Yummy! Sometimes I like them with cherries on top."
Jade pushed her bowl away, no longer able to eat. Tai looked at her sternly, but didn't force her after seeing her expression. Sora looked at her in concern, probably having guessed her lack of appetite. Thankfully, no one asked her how she liked her eggs.
"What? You're making me completely lose my appetite!" Joe wailed, horrified. "And now Jade's stopped eating! I wish we could talk about something other than egg recipes!"
"Don't be so hard on yourself," Gomamon told him. "They're just having fun."
"Come on! Join the party!" Matt laughed.
"I think it's really too late for him," Tai told Matt. "I think Joe's thinks we've gone a bit crazy over these eggs!"
"Well really, jellybeans and cherries on eggs? That's just crazy talk! Salt and pepper's all they need! Keep it simple, that's always been my motto!"
Jade sensed the change in the air. Joe was quickly turning into a basket case, and he needed to be pulled away before his comments hurt everyone else, or their comments hurt him. While she was no longer hungry, she understood that everyone was just trying to have fun. She stood and walked behind Joe, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"You need to calm down," she whispered into his ear. "They are just playing. I will eat a little later when the others have stopped talking about recipes. Why are you so negative?"
"We may never get home!" Joe said his frustrations finally able to be heard. "We may be stuck here forever, wherever here is! And they're treating this as one big vacation! How can anybody be calm about this?"
Jade sighed and started to pull Joe away from the table. Joe left the table willingly enough and Jade led him to the other side of one of the hot springs. The steam that it was letting off provided enough cover that they couldn't see anyone else.
"Why don't you want them to have fun?" Jade asked once Joe was sitting again.
"It's not about having fun," Joe moaned. "We're stuck in the middle of a strange land, with no way to contact our families! How are we ever going to get home?"
"With time," Jade answered. "It hasn't even been a week yet. Everything happens for a reason."
"Yeah, but how long will it take? Will we all be old and decrepit?"
"I don't know," Jade told him softly. "Gomamon won't let anything bad happen to you though. That's why he hangs around you, to protect you."
"Like how Agumon protected Tai?" Joe snapped. "I saw what Shellmon did to him. Is that going to happen to us too? And then we were all brainwashed by Monzaemon, our digimon couldn't do anything to help us then either. What if next time something really bad happens and one of us dies?"
"We're not going to die," Jade whispered. "We can't, because then what would be the point of being here?"
"Jade, I wish I could be as positive as you, but I can't."
"You don't have to be so paranoid," Jade said.
"I've got to be the cautious one around here," Joe whispered. He threw a rock into the hot spring. "I have to be, the voice of reason. I have to."
Jade smiled at him and stood up. Joe just needed a little time to himself and then he would be fine. She walked back to where the other children were, and was surprised to see that a fight had started between Tai and Matt. Her eyes met Sora's and she tilted her head curiously.
"Here," she said handing over her bowl of eggs. "You didn't finish before leaving."
Jade made herself comfortable on the ground and watched as the conversation between the two boys escalated. Tai's opinion was that they climb Infinity Mountain so that they could see the entire island, but Matt thought that it was too dangerous. Joe returned during the fight and somehow ended up involved.
Jade just ignored them and left the group to their own devices. There was a cave a short distance from the hot springs that would be warm throughout the night, and she wanted to find a warm space to sleep before the others could steal it from her. TK saw her disappearing and ran off to be by her side. Jade looked at him with a smile.
"Are you going to find somewhere to sleep?" TK asked.
"Yes," Jade told him, nodding decisively. "There are some caves up here that will be warm tonight. We can sleep there while the boys argue."
"They argue a lot, don't they?" TK asked rhetorically. "Why do they fight so much?"
"Different personalities," Jade explained. "Once they find some common ground, they will be best friends. You will see."
"I hope so, hey, Patamon? Can you tell us a story tonight? I wanna hear more about this Sovereign. Do you know any stories about her?"
"I only know one story," Patamon explained. He was sitting on TK's hat, so Jade needed to look up to see him. "I can't remember who told it to me, but I think I remember enough to tell you."
"Great! Come on Jade! Let's find a good place before all the older kids steal it from us!"
Jade allowed TK to pull her along, curious as well about the Sovereign stories that existed. Maybe one story would jog her memory and allow her to remember it. Once inside the cave, she and TK curled up in the back under Jade's blanket, with Patamon squeezed in between them. Jade closed her eyes as she listened.
"Long ago, a human child was pulled into the Digital World by one of the Guardians, and they kept the child for years. This child, a girl, had strange abilities that no human before her had wielded. She was in great danger, both from other humans in her world, and the dark digimon in our world. So the Guardians kept her sheltered, and in time a digimon came forth to protect the little girl who had since become known as the little princess. This protector digimon stood against the dark digimon and kept the little princess safe.
"One day, the little princess was out with the baby digimon when the dark digimon attacked. There was a great battle, and the Protector won, but the price was high. The baby digimon had been killed. The little princess was so upset that her abilities went wild. Any digimon with darkness in their heart was pushed away violently, and eggs rained from the sky. When the little princess returned to the human world, the protector digimon was never seen again.
"The protector digimon had no official name, though I have heard that she had wings of flame. Protector was a popular name, but near the end of the little princess' time here, the protector became the Sovereign over the digimon who couldn't defend themselves. She became a demigod, I suppose. We truly know that we're safe when we hear the Bells of Truth, a melody that signifies the coming of the Sovereign. All us younger digimon long to hear the bells, but we have yet to hear them."
Patamon turned his head from side to side to look at his sleeping audience, before looking back at the other children who had entered during the story. He blushed slightly, but they didn't say anything to him. Agumon walked closer to him and whispered quietly so as to not disturb Jade and TK.
"I didn't know that you knew that story," he whispered.
"I heard it a long time ago," Patamon admitted. "It stuck with me, I guess."
"It was a good story, well done."
"Thanks."
"Now rest, of we climb Infinity Mountain tomorrow we're going to need all our strength."
Patamon nodded and settled down to sleep. He looked at the sleeping children on either side of him once more, confident that they were sleeping peacefully. Silence fell over the cave, save for the gentle breathing of human and digimon alike.
At some time in the night Jade woke up from a strange dream, one where she was flying over the land on the back on an angel. He was explaining to her how his subjects lived, and that one day she would take his place. She didn't really understand that, so upon awakening she was confused. She looked around the cave and spotted Joe moving around. Making sure that she didn't disturb TK and Patamon, she crept after Joe. He was scratching a note in the dirt, before straightening and walking off in the direction of Infinity Mountain.
"Joe!" Jade called quietly, running lightly after him. "Where are you going?"
"Jade?" Joe stated, turning to look at her. "Go back to the cave, it's way too cold out here."
"Where are you going? Why are you going alone?"
"Jade," Joe sighed. Jade grabbed his arm and stared up at him worriedly. "It's too dangerous for everyone to climb the mountain, so I'm going to do it. If it's safe I'll come back and grab everyone."
"But what if it's not safe?"
"It will be," Joe promised.
"When will you be back?"
"Morning I suppose."
"And if you're not?"
"Afternoon, then."
"What do I tell the others?"
"Nothing, or say you don't know."
Jade looked at him with her eyebrows raised. Lie? She had never lied in her life and she wouldn't start now. Joe grinned sheepishly, not having considered what he was asking her.
"Tell them where I am, and that I asked you not to say anything," Joe amended. "Now go back to sleep."
Jade nodded and watched as Joe continued onwards. She waited until he was out of sight before darting back into the caves and waking Gomamon. The little digimon blinked at her sleepily, but she shushed him and carried him outside so they could talk without disturbing the others.
"What's wrong Jade?"
"Joe went up the mountain alone," Jade explained. "Please hurry after him. He's going to get hurt without anyone else up there to help him."
"Don't worry Jade, I'll protect him."
Gomamon scurried away quickly, and Jade returned to the caves. The night air was cold and she could see her breath in front of her. She briefly considered staying up to watch for their return, but she was tired. She returned to where TK and Patamon were still sleeping, and curled up under her blanket with them. Maybe she would be able to sleep without any more dreams.
"Mmm, I sure slept well," Sora yawned as the sun rose over the horizon. Jade blinked at the sudden noise, and sat up rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. As her eyes cleared she looked around to see if Joe had returned, and frowned when she realised he hadn't. Sora looked around the cave, smiling at Jade when she saw that the girl was awake, but then frowning when she couldn't see Joe or Gomamon anywhere.
"I wonder where Sleepy Joe is," Sora mumbled, standing up and walking outside. Jade heard her calling out for Joe, and decided that it was time for the others to wake. She pulled the blanket from TK and Patamon, ignoring their mumbles of displeasure, and returned the blanket to her bag. She walked out behind Sora in time to hear her read out Joe's message in the dirt.
"'I'll be back in a little while please wait for me, Joe'. He wouldn't be climbing that mountain by himself, would he?" Sora turned to Jade with wide eyes. Jade nodded slowly and yawned. Sora ran back into the cave. "Everybody wake up! We have an emergency!"
Jade stared up at the mountain, wondering where Joe was. He was more than likely already near the top of Infinity Mountain, so to get to him quickly the digimon would need to digivolve and run, or in the case of Kabuterimon and Birdramon, fly. She hoped they were alright, for if they weren't she knew that she would feel guilty about it. Tai stumbled out of the cave, his eyes reading over the short note as he combed his fingers through his hair.
"Joe…what are you doing?" he asked himself. "Agumon, come on, we've got to go."
"We're not having breakfast?" Agumon asked sleepily.
"No, Joe's in trouble. We can eat later."
"Talk later Tai!" Sora ordered as she came out of the cave, Biyomon by her side. "Digivolve now Biyomon, we have to get up that mountain!"
"Right," Biyomon agreed. "Biyomon digivolve to – Birdramon!"
Jade felt Biyomon's love for Sora grow as she digivolved, before the giant bird hovered in front of the cave. The other children came out as well, most of them still yawning. When they were all outside Sora once again started to give out orders.
"Tai and I will go ahead to help out Joe. The rest of you follow as soon as you can. Kabuterimon and Garurumon should be able to get up fairly quickly. Come on Tai, Agumon, let's go."
Tai nodded and grabbed a hold of Birdramon's foot and made sure that Agumon was secure before looking to Sora. She nodded and they disappeared up into the sky. Jade watched as they disappeared before she turned to look at the others and tilted her head to the side in question.
"Well, what are we standing around here for?" Matt asked. "Gabumon, digivolve and we can go after them. Tentomon, you should digivolve as well. Half will go with me and the rest will go with Izzy."
"Gabumon digivolve to – Garurumon!"
"Tentomon digivolve to – Kabuterimon!"
The two digimon digivolved into their Champion forms and they prepared to leave. On Kabuterimon were Izzy, Mimi and Palmon. They would be flying by air, but still keeping close to Garurumon to provide cover if there were other digimon or Black Gears around. Garurumon had Matt, TK, Patamon, and Jade. TK and Jade were sitting in front of Matt where he could make sure they wouldn't fall off, and once everyone was comfortable they took off at a run.
They were required to follow the same path Joe took due to accessibility, whereas Birdramon took the shortest route so as to provide assistance.
"Do you think Joe's ok?" TK asked as they started to ascend.
"He's fine," Matt replied instantly. "Tai and Sora are probably with him now, telling him that he was an idiot for going on his own."
"But Gomamon was with him," TK added defensively.
"Regardless, we should have gone together. We're a team. I don't like it when we all spilt up. Who knows what could happen if we were alone with no one around to provide help?"
Jade looked down guiltily. She knew she should have woken someone other than Gomamon, and she even went back to sleep afterwards. If anything happened to Joe it would be her fault for not waking anyone. She felt Garurumon's concern, and she figured that it was due to her silence and her sigh of worry. She rubbed his fur gently, and looked ahead to see if she could spot anyone.
If she squinted she could see bits of the mountain exploding, and bright flashes of light that signified attacks from whoever was up on the mountain. She hoped no one was hurt. She clasped her hands together and wished with all her might that her friends would be safe. The presence of a Black Gear reached the edges of her senses, so she pushed with all her might to have it destroyed. Her eyes clenched shut in concentration, and she could feel another helping her. The Black Gear shattered and she swayed at the sudden lack of darkness.
"Jade!" TK shouted, his arms wrapping around her from behind. Matt echoed the cry and helped hold onto her as well.
"What happened? Jade, what's wrong?" Matt asked with worry. Kabuterimon flew closer to the ground having seen that something was wrong.
"What happened?" Izzy asked in concern.
"I don't know!" Matt called up. "Jade just became real weak all of a sudden!"
"They're just over the ridge," Izzy told them. "We'll come down so we can walk up together."
Matt nodded, and after Garurumon stopped they all got off, with Matt supporting Jade. Once they were all down Jade attempted to wave away their concern. She was feeling better, but she told herself not to do something over a long distance again, it took more out of her than she realised.
"I'm fine," Jade protested. "I can walk on my own."
"What happened, Jade?" Mimi asked curiously.
"The Black Gear was really cold, so I was pushing it away, but I should have waited until we were closer because I felt dizzy after it was gone. It was too far away."
"Pushed it away?" TK repeated. "What does that mean?"
"I don't like the Black Gears," Jade explained. "They make me feel cold, so I push the cold away and I feel better afterwards."
"You can feel the Black Gears?" Izzy asked. "I wonder…"
"Come on, let's catch up to the others," Matt suggested. "Maybe they know something."
The small group nodded and followed Matt, though the older boy insisted on keeping Jade by his side in case she collapsed again. When Tai, Sora, Joe and their digimon came into sight, Jade broke free from the group and ran towards them. Joe was sitting on his knees looking fairly despondent, and the others were staring impassively at the unobstructed view of the island. Tai smiled as she approached, his arm going around her shoulders, and he nodded towards Matt, TK, Mimi and Izzy as they approached.
"We're doomed," Joe was muttering. "Trapped on an island, we'll never get out of here alive. I knew I wouldn't like camp, but would my folks listen to me? No! I wanted to go to summer school!"
Jade giggled at his little monologue and looked towards Gomamon. She stepped away from Tai and knelt next to Gomamon so that she was closer to the ground. The little digimon looked up at her with his head on the side. He asked her what she was grinning about.
"Did you digivolve?" she asked. Gomamon grinned happily.
"Yep! I digivolved into Ikkakumon."
Jade congratulated him, before looking up at Tai and grinning. Once the others joined them they decided that they would have breakfast, and the digimon went off to forage. There was still some fruit in Joe's bag, so they divided that amongst each other. Matt cornered Tai, Joe and Sora and told them briefly of what had happened on the way up, and all four of them looked over to Jade who was playing with Gomamon.
"So she can sense the Black Gears," Joe murmured. "The cold that she refers to, it could be centred on her heart. We should watch for when it happens again, see if the two incidents connect."
"I agree, but feeling weak after? Do you think that something about her helps the digimon to destroy the Black Gears?" Tai asked.
"I definitely felt something when I was on Unimon's back," Joe said. "The Black Gear grew warm underneath my hands, and it's why I let go actually. It was quite a shock. It was destroyed a little later. This is very confusing."
The others nodded, but no more was said on the matter. Sora and Matt went off to eat, Joe went to check on Gomamon, and Tai went off to sit near the edge of the cliff with a sketchbook and pencil that he had borrowed from Mimi. It seemed that Mimi had everything in her bag except for food.
"What are you doing Tai?" Agumon asked after he had come back from hunting for something to eat. Tai looked up at his partner, and then across at Jade who had dropped down next to him and was swinging her legs innocently over the side. Gomamon was with Joe and eating what food he was being offered, so Jade wanted to check on Tai.
"Making a map of the island," Tai replied. "That way we'll know exactly where we are and where we've already been. Be careful Jade, I don't know how sturdy this bit of the mountain is. You wouldn't want to fall off."
Jade crinkled her nose but made no effort to move backwards. Izzy, having overheard the first part of Tai's statement walked over with Tentomon flying behind him.
"Yes, that works in theory," Izzy looked over Tai's shoulder and his eyes widened. "What? Did you say map or mess?"
Jade looked over as well and grinned as she saw the state of Tai's map. To just about everyone else it looked like something a child had drawn, but Jade could figure out what each scribble meant by staring at it and then at the land before them. All told it was an accurate representation of how Tai's mind worked, and what he saw as important when map drawing. He would never be an artist, but he had most of the major landmarks documented…even if none of the other children could figure out what it was.
"No question man, you are the dude of doodles!" Matt observed. He and Sora had walked over curiously and Jade physically restrained herself from laughing.
"If you follow that map it'll lead right to a headache," Sora added.
"Well I can read it just fine and that's all that's really important," Tai told them. Jade's smile slipped off her face having recognised the hurt in his tone. She put her hand on his knee briefly before pulling the map towards her. Tai allowed it, no longer feeling like drawing. Jade borrowed the pencil and decided that she would put down a compass so that they would know which way was north. Then she put a happy face next to the drawing and returned it to Tai with a grin.
"Thanks Jade," he whispered. "It's not that bad is it?"
"As long as you can read it, that's all that matters," she said. "Who cares if they can't think outside the box? We'll know where we are at least."
Tai grinned and stood up, pulling Jade with him as he did so. A growl coming from back down the path interrupted them, and Jade looked around curiously to see what it was. The other children followed her gaze, and as soon as it got closer Jade shivered. This digimon was infected with more than one Black Gear.
"What's that?" Matt asked.
"I don't know," Joe replied. "But I have a feeling we're going to wait here to find out."
"At least it won't be a long wait," Sora told him. Coming up the path to them was what appeared to be a giant lion, which stood as a man would on his hindquarters. His eyes were red, and that more than anything scared Jade, though she couldn't think of why. The digimon wore pants, and on his back attached to his belt was a sword. He looked very dangerous.
"Don't worry," Patamon told them all. "That's Leomon. He's our friend."
"With big teeth," TK added nervously.
"He just uses them for smiling," Patamon continued. Jade imagined that that had been true in the past, but at the moment he was not himself.
"He's a just leader and a role model for all digimon," Gabumon added admiringly.
"I think we should run," Jade whispered to Tai. "Leomon is not himself."
Tai looked down at Jade in confusion, and seeing her pale face asked a question that was just audible to the children.
"Black Gear?"
"More than one," Jade replied, shivering. "I don't want to be here."
"I want the children," Leomon stated, his voice possessing a dangerous growl. After that sentence, and hearing Jade talk about the Black Gear, the children decided to run, though it could have been the fact that Leomon had pulled his sword from its sheath and prepared to charge after them.
As they were running Tai's map slipped from his pocket. He stopped with the intention of grabbing it again, but Leomon was too close. Agumon let out a fireball at Leomon, burning the map accidently, but Tai was able to continue running without any damage.
"Don't slow down Joe, he's right behind us!" Matt ordered from near the back of the group. Joe was leading all of them, and Jade ended up right behind him after Tai had stopped for his map. However, another digimon, this one green and scary looking, appeared at the other end of the path.
"And just where do you think you're going?" the green digimon asked. The children crashed to a stop, literally in Jade's case as she hadn't been looking forward as she ran, but back to make sure Tai was still with them. She tripped over Joe and rolled to a stop just in front of the green digimon.
"Well children, so good of you to stop by."
"He look hungry to you?" Patamon asked.
"We're too small to eat!" TK protested. "And I'm full of junk food!"
"Well he's not against a little snack," Gomamon told him.
"Jade! Get away from there!" Tai cried. Jade looked up from where she was still sitting on the ground. She rubbed her head from where she smacked it against the ground, and took a deep breath. The green digimon seemed to know what she was about to do and lifted his wicked looking club to hit her. He was too slow, for as soon as he started to lift his club, Jade screamed as loud as she could.
Ogremon, the green digimon, recoiled from the high pitch. Hands from behind her lifted her from the ground and pulled her back to the children, and she stopped screaming when she recognised Joe.
"Thank you, Joe," she whispered.
"You're welcome" Joe replied. "Maybe you should start working on stopping, or even watching where you are going."
Jade nodded with a little grin. As they returned to the group it was to Leomon cut off their retreat. They were now caught between a cliff face on one side, and a long drop on the other. There was nowhere to escape.
"Make it easy on yourselves," Leomon told them. "Give up now, or else!"
"I don't see an exit door," Matt told them all uneasily.
"This proves that theory that well executed teamwork is efficient even for bad guys," Izzy added.
"But Leomon has always been Ogremon's worst enemy," Biyomon protested. "What's happened to him?"
"He has more than one Black Gear in him," Jade told the digimon from where she was still in Joe's arms. "It's really strong and dark. I can't fight it."
"But we can," Agumon told her. "Ready everyone?"
As Leomon and Ogremon leapt towards the children the digimon nodded and digivolved. Jade sighed as the love from the digivolutions pushed back the darkness just a little bit so that she could breathe.
"Agumon digivolve to – Greymon!"
"Gabumon digivolve to – Garurumon!"
Palmon digivolve to – Togemon!"
Biyomon digivolve to – Birdramon!"
"Tentomon digivolve to – Kabuterimon!"
"Gomamon digivolve to – Ikkakumon!"
Greymon, Garurumon and Togemon leapt towards Leomon, pushing him away, while Birdramon, Kabuterimon and Ikkakumon went to the other way towards Ogremon. Patamon remained in TK's arms, having not learnt how to digivolve just yet to the next level, but with the six champions there was no need for him to do so.
TK and Jade were moved to the middle of the group, and they watched as the six champions pushed back their enemies quickly and effectively. TK had one of his arms around Jade's shoulders, but both their eyes were watching the fight…until the rocks above them broke free from the mountain and fell down onto them.
Jade stared up at the falling rocks, and just before they obscured her vision she saw a dark figure with red eyes, staring down at her with curiosity and anticipation. She trembled as fear swept over her. That digimon was one they would need to watch out for.
"Is everybody okay?" Tai asked, brushing the rubble from his hair.
"Oh yeah," Matt replied sarcastically. "Like a day at the beach."
"I think I need a facial," Mimi moaned.
The digivolved digimon protected them from the falling rocks before returning to their Rookie forms due to exhaustion. The children all ran to their partners, asking what was wrong with them. Jade pushed away TK's supporting arm, stronger now that Leomon was gone. She looked around and noticed that Ogremon had scampered away as well.
"Ogremon and Leomon are gone," she said after everyone finished checking on the partners. They looked around, noticing that they were alone for the first time.
"Do you think the avalanche knocked them off the cliff?" Gabumon asked.
"Hello?" Joe called, looking over the edge of the mountain, his voice echoing as he called for the two evil digimon, making sure that they were still alive. "Unless they can fly they're goners."
Jade rolled her eyes at his actions and mumbled to TK who was still next to her.
"Because I would answer if my enemy was asking if I was still alive."
TK giggled but otherwise made no indication that she had said anything. He walked over to Matt and Gabumon, making sure that they were alright, while Jade walked over to Tai. Behind the two young ones, Sora and Joe continued to talk.
"Neither one of them had wings," Sora told Joe. "So I'm sure they weren't airworthy."
"Nothing is logical here," Joe replied. "Anything is bound to happen, including flying monsters."
"For once, you might be right Joe."
"Something bothering you, Tai?" Agumon asked once Jade was in earshot.
"It's that avalanche, I can't figure out what set it off," Tai explained. Izzy turned from where he and Tentomon were standing and replied with a scientific explanation.
"Stress accumulates until a crack develops and with excess weight the terra firma suddenly isn't so firma."
"You think so?" Tai asked as they started to walk again. "It looked to me like something blasted it loose."
Jade looked up at Tai at that. The boy surprised her a little more each day. She hadn't thought anyone else would have seen that. She didn't say anything though, because she wasn't quite sure what she herself had seen. She resolved to figure it out before saying anything to the others…that and she really wanted to get off Infinity Mountain.
After stopping briefly around lunch time, the children and digimon once again disappeared into the forest surrounding Infinity Mountain. It was liberating for all of them to escape the sun's burning rays and more than one person sighed in relief. Jade had picked up Gomamon at some stage after lunch and was carrying him on her head. The little digimon had dozed off so Jade attempted to smooth out her walk so as to not disturb him or accidently throw him off. At the back of the group, no one really paid much attention to what she was doing, though Agumon kept looking back to make sure that she was still with them.
"I'm intrigued that our digimon were able to digivolve twice in one day," Izzy stated after a long period of silence. It had obviously been bothering the boy for a while and wanted to get a second opinion on his thoughts.
"Well, it was sure lucky for us that they were able to do it," Tai told him.
"I think the digimon are growing stronger," Sora said, turning slightly so that she could look at everyone else. "I wonder if that's a normal part of their evolution or if we're bringing out something special in them?"
"A fascinating hypothesis," Izzy considered. "If only we could test it."
"I think today was too much for them," Matt added, looking at the almost sleepwalking digimon.
"Palmon's looking very tired," Mimi agreed.
"I've been tired before," Palmon mumbled. "Don't worry about me."
"Admit it Palmon, we need to stop and rest," Biyomon scolded.
"You know, to be perfectly honest," Joe began. "I think that would be a good idea for all of us."
"Rest where?" Sora asked. "I don't want to sleep on the ground."
"Look! A mansion!" Joe suddenly exclaimed, pointing through the trees. Jade turned slowly, intrigued at the thought of a mansion in the middle of nowhere.
"Maybe it's a hotel!" Tai stated hopefully. "Come on guys! Jade, hurry up or you'll get left behind!"
"We may have found other life forms!" Izzy cried excitedly as they started to run towards the building. "Look at the grounds; I mean, someone had to have mown the lawns."
Jade brought up the rear, but she really didn't want to go into the building. She slowed to a walk, but still continued to move towards the others. As she moved she gently pulled Gomamon from her head to hold in her arms. He had a higher chance of falling off if she ran with him on her head.
"What a place! I can't believe my eyes!" Tai continued. "It's just too good to be true!"
"I hope they have a hot tub," Joe wished. "Just, as long as it's not too hot."
"Wait you guys! Don't just go charging in there!" Tai called in concern as Matt and Joe sprinted to the front door. "It might be dangerous!"
"Was this on your map?" Agumon asked Tai. Jade pulled up aside the two and looked up at Tai curiously.
"Somehow I don't think so," he replied.
"This place should be on your map," Agumon insisted.
"Agumon, if you recall, you burnt up my map."
"Oh, yeah," Agumon muttered. Jade giggled at the sheepish expression on the dinosaur's face. They started to walk after the group who had continued even though Tai and Jade had stopped. Jade searched back through her memory, focusing on Tai's map. She couldn't recall seeing a mansion amongst his scribbles, even though a mansion would have been something important enough to be included.
"I don't like this," she whispered.
"Me neither," Tai added, also in a whisper as their digimon went ahead to join the others. "But I know I'm not the only one who would like to sleep in a bed tonight. It's just too tempting to ignore."
"What if it's a trap?" Jade asked, grabbing Tai's hand desperately. "We'd all be walking right into it without any regard to our safety."
"We'll stay on our guard," Tai promised. "But if we were to get involved in a fight now we'd lose because everyone is exhausted and tired. Come on, we should stay as a group."
Jade bit her lip and nodded. She allowed Tai to drag her forwards and through the front door of the mansion. They entered just after TK and Patamon, and Jade couldn't help but shiver when she saw what had captured TK's attention.
"Whoa! That's beautiful!"
The others turned to look at the portrait and several of them echoed TK's sentiments. The portrait was of a blonde angel facing away, looking up the back left of the portrait with her hands reaching out as if asking for something. The colours were in warm reds and whites, looking very innocent and welcoming in the entrance room as it was.
"It's an angel," TK continued.
"What's an angel TK?" Patamon asked curiously, staring up at the portrait with questioning eyes. Jade shivered, there was something about it that disturbed her.
"Something special that watches over you," TK explained. "Kind of like you guys!"
"Do you think it could be a picture of the Sovereign?" Mimi asked curiously.
"I don't know," Patamon told her. "I've always heard that the Sovereign had wings of fire, and some say she had a staff that harnessed the power of truth."
"What does that mean?" TK asked.
"I don't know. I heard it somewhere."
"If this is a spooked out, haunted house, would there be pictures of angels hanging on the walls?" Joe asked earnestly. "I don't think so!"
"If I was an evil warlord I'd put pictures of angels, and puppies, and unicorns inside a house to make my prey lower their guard," Jade said quietly to herself, though no one paid attention to her. "Expect the unexpected. I don't like it here."
"Relax, we just want to be careful," Sora told Joe. "And talk quieter or you'll wake everybody up."
"They're out like a light," Matt added, looking down at the digimon who gotten as far as a few metres inside the building before falling asleep, still standing upright. Jade still had Gomamon in her arms, but he woke up briefly when Agumon and Gabumon announced that they could smell food. Jade allowed Gomamon to hop onto the floor so that he could follow the digimon, but she still couldn't smell anything.
Regardless she followed everyone as they sprinted away, and by the time she made it to where they ended up, the digimon were stuffing their faces and Joe was making a pig of himself. Even standing right next to the food, Jade couldn't smell any of it despite seeing the steam signifying that the food was hot. She tilted her head to the side, unwilling to enter the room, but Tai spotted her and pulled her over to a spare seat.
Jade cautiously bit into a piece of fruit that was in front of her. Her eyes widened and she barely restrained from spitting the food out. It tasted like ash in her mouth, and she knew that she wouldn't be able to eat any of it. She couldn't figure out how the others were managing to eat and not gag. She looked up at the others around her, and after seeing that they were all preoccupied with what they were eating, she snuck away from the table and decided to explore the building. No one saw her go, too interested in eating everything in sight.
She walked around the mansion without making a sound. There was something dark about it, but she couldn't sense any Black Gears. There was something else that was causing her to feel strange. She found a bathroom, and that at least felt warm though she had no intention of going in without anyone else. Further down she found the bathrooms, and there was even a bedroom with eight beds exactly. She sat on the balcony of the second floor, waiting for the other children to finish stuffing their faces.
"Hey Jade! Where'd you go? Weren't you hungry?"
Jade looked down and saw that Agumon had been the first to leave the dining hall. She shook her head and swung back around so that she was on the right side of the balcony. She stood at the top of the stairs and waved the others up to her.
"There's a hot bath in this room here, but there's a screen in the middle so that the girls can swim on one side and the boys can swim on the other," she explained. "And then the bedroom is over there, one bed for each of us."
"A hot bath," Mimi squealed, eyes shining in excitement. "Come on Sora, let's get in. I can't wait!"
Jade was grabbed as Mimi ran passed her, and she and Sora got undressed on the far side of the bath where the boys wouldn't be able to see them. Jade folded her clothes neatly before sliding into the water after Sora. The water was quite a bit deeper than it looked, so she grabbed onto Sora in fear as she went under. Sora smiled as she held her above the water.
"I got you," she promised. "Relax over here. I think this is the shallow part where we can sit."
Sora moved across the pool to where the water was shallow and sat down. Jade knelt on her knees to keep her head above the water, but eventually she relaxed and let her hair float in the water behind her. Mimi brought over a brush so then Jade enjoyed the feeling of someone brushing her hair in the water. It was great, and she was almost able to forget that the mansion was wrong.
"Why do boys have to be so noisy?" Sora asked, looking in the direction of the boys' bath. They were laughing and joking around, whereas the girls weren't making much noise at all.
"Relax," Mimi ordered as she put down the brush. "Forget about them."
"I've never been so relaxed in my whole life," Gomamon informed them. Mimi, Sora, Palmon and Biyomon all shrieked in horror at seeing him.
"Gomamon, you're not supposed to be over here!" Biyomon scolded him.
"Get back to the boys' side!" Palmon ordered, before using her vines to throw him over the wall. Jade giggled at Gomamon's protests, and then at the complaints from the boys who Gomamon had landed on. Mimi and Sora grumbled about how inconsiderate boys were, but that just made Jade giggle louder. She found a nice spot next to Sora, and rested her head against her shoulder, eyes falling shut peacefully. Baths were nice.
"Looks like someone needs to be in bed," Sora whispered to Mimi.
"She's so cute," Mimi whispered back. "I just want to take her home with me."
"Let's get out so that she can rest in a proper bed," Sora suggested. Mimi agreed and together the two of them got Jade out of the bath and into a bath robe. Sora grabbed their clothes and bags, and Mimi dried jade's hair with a towel before brushing it again, and then they made their way to the bedroom. Opening the door into the room caused gasps of shock, as each bed was queen sized and looked very soft. Jade ended up on the bed between Joe and Sora, and she burrowed deep under the covers instantly. Around her the others excitedly got ready for bed.
"The only thing better is bunk beds!" TK announced.
"Boy, this feels great," Izzy praised. "Last time I had a bed this soft I was dreaming."
"How I've missed sleeping on soft silky sheets," Mimi told everyone, already under her covers with Palmon tucked in next to her.
"I'll tell you what I don't miss," Joe started. "I don't miss hiking through the blazing hot desert. And another thing I really don't miss is starving in the jungle. Oh, we are a long way from home."
The children all looked upset, thinking about their homes again. Jade peeked out of her sheets at the sudden silence, before shrugging and disappearing again. She didn't really want to go home, she had never had this much fun before.
"Sorry," Joe apologised for making them all melancholy.
"That's okay Joe," Tai forgave. "We all miss being home. And I'm sure we're all wondering if we'll ever get back there."
"I bet our disappearance caused a big fuss at school," Matt stated. "And all over town, but we've been gone so long, everybody must have given up looking for us by now."
"Mom and dad wouldn't stop," TK muttered.
"I'm homesick," Mimi shared. "Aren't you?"
"We'll find our way back," Sora said optimistically. "Don't worry Mimi."
"Let's just go to sleep and try to have nice dreams," Mimi suggested.
Everyone agreed with that and after passing out good night wishes, the children drifted off to sleep. Jade tossed a little in the beginning, she knew that there was something dark coming for them…and she didn't know if they were strong enough to survive it.
Next up in Intertwined Destinies:
Chapter 7: Seperation and Devimon