8. So, What Now?

Kumomon's entire world was spinning. Her legs flailed uncontrollably and all she could hear was the roar of water.
Her head broke the surface. Trees were racing past her and the river frothed around her struggling form.
"Help!" She cried out. "I c-can't swi -"
The water closed over her head again. Her limbs felt heavy and her vision was darkening.
An arm looped around her abdomen and pulled her to the surface again.
"I've got you!"
She recognised Kartik's voice and threw her front legs around his neck. With his free hand, he was steadying Relemon on his head. The baby digimon was shivering with fear and cold.
Further downstream, Charlie had Shinyu's arm over her shoulder. The boy appeared to have lost consciousness and she was struggling to keep both their heads above water.
Tarumon swam over to them and took Shinyu's other arm, lightening Charlie's load.
"Where's Smilomon?" He called out over the roar of the river.
A striped orange head broke the surface in front of them. It looked like Smilomon, but as if she had shrunk in the water.
"What happened to you?" Charlie stared at her wide-eyed.
"I'll explain later. Right now, we need to get out of this river before we're swept out to the Digital Sea!"
Tarumon looked at the forestry racing by them.
"I can get us out. Group everyone together."
The smaller Smilomon shook out her goggles and fitted them over her eyes. She dived underwater, surfacing near Kartik's group.
"We need to keep together. Hold on!" She offered Kartik her paw.
Kartik gave Relemon to Kumomon; who held her with her spare legs; and grabbed Smilomon's paw. She swam strongly through the water, towing him behind her.
Once everyone was together, Tarumon called out to them.
"Grab on to each other!"
Tightening his grip on Shinyu; he aimed his horns at the treeline.
"Hook Horn!"
His chained horns shot out and wrapped around a tree trunk.
"Hold on tight!"
He reeled the chains in, dragging the group through the water and up the steep riverbank to dry land.
Everyone lay on the ground for a while, catching their breath and resting their aching limbs.
Charlie was the first one to sit up. She crawled over to Shinyu, who had yet to wake up. He didn't respond when she shook his shoulder or called his name.
"Say, Smilomon? I don't think your friend's doing too well."
"It's Tigremon now." The digimon stood up and made her way to Shinyu's side. Her paws were clenched into fists and her eyes were downcast and filled with guilt.
Meanwhile, Kartik was wringing water out of his shirt. He quickly realised that the water was running off of their clothes and returning to the river as if drawn there by an invisible force. There was no dampness left behind, but he still felt a chill throughout his body.
"We should probably find some shelter." He suggested.
"And qu-quickly." Kumomon added. "B-Before it gets -"
The white sky above them abruptly turned black, leaving them in near total darkness.
"- dark."

-

Baalmon stood in File City's hospital, looking down at Babamon's unconscious form. She appeared to have entered some sort of healing trance. There was a faint field of light surrounding her body and she was completely unresponsive to any stimulus.
This was an issue. Upon reaching the gate, Baalmon had discovered it to be closed and locked. Even his best tech-minded digimon hadn't been able to open it. He could only assume that Babamon had installed a failsafe in the event of an invasion; and she was likely the only one who could deactivate it.
He had hoped to remove the humans and destroy Babamon's access to the gate, then return home. Instead, he was stuck with a group of terrified humans in his custody; a city of disgruntled digimon under occupation and his own gate left with minimal protection.
And the more time passed, the higher the chance that the other Guardians would learn of his defiance of their decision. Word of this could get back to Yggdrasil.
What if the Royal Knights got involved?
Baalmon shook his head to clear it of those worrying thoughts. Panicking wouldn't help the situation. He had to focus on the here and now.
He turned to the Octomon and Bakemon that were standing to attention by the door.
"Keep a close eye on her, and notify me at once if there's any change in her condition."
The guards nodded and fixed their eyes on Babamon's bed.
Baalmon exited the room and crossed the hallway to another. Inside was a row of beds on which sat or lay several of his followers. They were being tended to by their army's healers.
While the digimon of File City were not as well organised as Baalmon's warriors, they had still put up a commendable resistance. If Babamon had taken the time to properly prepare them for combat, the battle may have gone differently.
The closest patient was Reppamon who sat stoically as a Kudamon bandaged his wounds. His tail was a different story.
"Watch it, you birdbrain! I'm cracked enough as it is!" It yelled at a Hyokomon who was running a sharpening stone over it's edges. It abruptly fell silent upon noticing Baalmon approaching.
"Jazardmon informed me that three humans managed to escape the city. And that they were aided by digimon. Two Rookies and a Champion. Since it was your overzealousness that allowed this; I was hoping you could pursue them, but it appears that they were too much of a challenge for you to begin with."
The tail quivered under Baalmon's gaze.
"We were going easy on them, sir. Just like you ordered. Besides, there's not much point in chasing after them. They most likely drowned in the river."
"I wouldn't be so sure of that."
They both looked to the other side of the room where Blitzmon was standing next to a bedridden Coredramon. The armoured digimon continued to speak.
"That Champion you mentioned; she's not the regular kind."
"What the heck's that supposed to mean?" Reppamon's tail asked in a challenging tone.
"I mean, she was a Rookie when we caught up to her and her human. I was able to trap them easily, but then she digivolved and sent both me and Coredramon flying."
"So? She was ready to digivolve and you just happened to be the one to trigger it. That's bad luck on your end."
"Luck had nothing to do with it." Blitzmon stepped towards Baalmon. "The human had this little device on him that lit up when the Rookie got mad. And it got brighter as she digivolved, like the two were connected."
"Her strength wasn't natural either." Coredramon added. "She'd just digivolved and yet she was fighting at full power, without any doubt in her movements. It was like she was already used to her new body. Almost as if it wasn't new to her at all."
As Baalmon listened, he unconsciously laid his hand on the large red book chained at his back. His cloak hid this movement from his followers, but they did notice his eye widening with alarm. Before they could ask what was wrong, Baalmon seemed to snap himself out of it.
"Blitzmon, I want you to go after the humans, immediately."
Blitzmon looked to Coredramon.
"I'd love to, Boss, but my wings are out of commission."
"Then take Birdramon. If they get in contact with the other Guardians, there's no telling who could show up on our doorstep."
Coredramon put a clawed hand on Blitzmon's shoulder.
"It's okay. Birdramon's faster than me anyway. You need to finish the mission."
Blitzmon turned around and bumped fists with his partner.
"I'll give that big-toothed cat a Megaton Punch for you, pal."
Baalmon followed Blitzmon out the door. He had his own job to do in City Hall's laboratory.

-

Shinyu's return to consciousness was a slow one. Every time he began to break through the surface of sleep, the dark warmth surrounding him pulled him back.
He gradually became aware of a weight on his chest. Mamoru must've gotten into his room again.
It felt like his eyelids had weights attached to them, but he forced them up anyway. He couldn't just lie in bed all morning. There must be something useful he could do for Arisu.
As the orange blob in front of his face started to come into focus, he noticed something was off. Had Mamoru always had black stripes?
A pair of blue eyes snapped open and a raspy voice sounded out.
"Shinyu! You're awake!"
Everything came rushing back. The attack on File City. Fleeing from airborne digimon on Smilomon's back. The fall from the bridge. The cold of the water.
Shinyu now became aware of his surroundings. He was on his back with Tigremon lying on top of him. They were both covered with large soft leaves that formed a makeshift blanket.
It was dark all round him, except for the light of a small fire to his right which revealed the outlines of trees surrounding the area. Sitting around the fire was a blonde girl wearing a gray beanie hat, an Asian looking boy in a green buttoned up shirt and three digimon. One looked like a small bull with short brown hair; another a big gray spider; and the third was a tiny yellow blob with a fox-like tail.
A feeling of recognition hit Shinyu. He'd already met these people but the details were foggy.
The boy shifted closer to Shinyu and felt his cheek.
"You've warmed up." His voice was thick with relief. "We were really worried about you."
He reached behind him and brought forth the bento box Arisu had prepared for Shinyu.
"This was in your bag. We warmed it by the fire."
"Thank you." Shinyu's voice sounded croaky and he coughed to clear his throat.
"I'll get you some water." Tigremon offered.
She moved the leaves off of her and Shinyu; and that's when he noticed something.
"What the - Where are my clothes?!"
Shinyu's boxers were the only item of clothing he still had on. He scrabbled to cover himself, eliciting a snicker from the girl.
"Hey, don't look at me." She grinned and pointed to the boy sat in front of Shinyu. "He's the one who insisted on stripping you."
"I didn't - That's not - It was an emergency!"
The boy's spluttering caused the girl to laugh even harder.
The bull digimon covered his mouth in an attempt to hide his own amusement as he carried Shinyu's shirt and jeans over to him.
"You were unconscious and really cold." He explained as Shinyu started pulling his clothes back on. "Kartik said that skin-to-skin contact was the best way to raise your body temperature."
He looked proudly at Kartik as he spoke. Kartik gave an embarrassed smile and shrugged.
"It's just something I learned in first aid training. I'm surprised I remembered it."
"Technically, it was skin to fur contact." The girl pointed out. "Tigremon insisted on being the one to look after you."
"Okay, okay. He doesn't need all the details." Tigremon returned to Shinyu's side with his water bottle. He noticed that she was avoiding direct eye contact with him.
Once he'd drank and eaten his fill - he was surprised at just how hungry he was - Shinyu sat with the others around the fire. They awkwardly looked at each other for a while before the bull spoke up.
"So... with all the craziness going on, we didn't get a chance to properly introduce ourselves. Let's do that now. I'm Tarumon, and this is my human Kartik."
Kartik put his hands together in greeting.
"Namaste, it's nice to meet you." He looked down at the sound of an insistent squeak and picked up the yellow blob. "Oh, and this is Relemon."
The girl gave a casual nod.
"Salut. Name's Charlie. This is my buddy Kumomon."
She playfully ruffled the short bristly hair on the spider's head.
Kumomon moved away from Charlie's reach and gave a half-hearted wave to the group.
"H-Hello."
Shinyu exchanged a look with Tigremon, who gave him a small nod. He got onto his knees and straightened his back.
"My name is Shinyu Shirogane. Thank you all for looking after me."
He bowed, touching his hands and forehead to the ground.
Everyone looked a little taken aback by his formal display. Charlie made a waving away motion with her hand.
"Hey, no problem. It's not like we could just leave you."
Tigremon raised a paw in greeting.
"And I'm Tigremon. Though you met me as Smilomon."
"Yes, I was going to ask about that." Tarumon said. "Why did you revert after we fell into the river? You don't seem to be injured."
Tigremon rubbed the back of her head.
"Yeeeah, I may have been a bit misleading when we met." She could only imagine the look Shinyu was giving her. Maybe Ogremon had a point about lying by omission. "I'm not actually a Champion. I'm a Rookie like you guys. Smilomon is just a temporary thing I can do."
Tarumon and Kumomon both stared at her with wide eyes.
"A-Are you saying that you c-can digivolve on c-command? How?"
Tigremon couldn't resist smiling at the amazed looks on their faces.
"Well, I don't like to blow my own bugle, but -"
"Ahem!" Shinyu shot her a stern look.
"Right. Well, truth be told; I don't really know how I do it. All I know is that it has something to do with this thing."
She pointed to the device on Shinyu's belt. He untied it and held it out for the others to see.
"It appeared when Tigremon and I were attacked by a poacher." He explained. "Babamon said it was because we had formed a bond."
Tigremon's ears flattened against her head at the sound of Babamon's name. The others seemed too fascinated by what they were hearing to notice.
"Um, excuse me." Kartik raised his hand. "I don't really understand what you mean by 'digivolve'. And 'Rookie' and 'Champion'? Are those like ranks or titles?"
"Ooh, I know!" Charlie sat up straight and grabbed her backpack. "Kumomon explained it to me."
She pulled out a notebook and a pencil, and started scribbling something down.
Shinyu looked to Kumomon, who just gave a helpless shrug.
"Done!"
Charlie held up her notebook, which had a rather crudely drawn diagram on it. It showed a small circle with 'Baby' written above it, then an arrow pointing to a slightly larger circle labelled 'In-Training'. Another arrow pointed to a blob with eight lines sticking out of it; which the others assumed was supposed to be Kumomon; entitled 'Rookie'. Three more arrows pointed to question marks, with the first labelled 'Champion'.
"Okay, so digimon have different stages that they evolve, or digivolve, to; kinda like pokemon."
"Who's Pokemon?" Tigremon asked.
"Sh-She's not talking a-about a digimon." Kumomon said.
Charlie continued.
"They start off as little babies like Relemon there." She pointed to the yellow digimon, who replied with a squeak. "And they work their way up to Rookie, Champion and - What were the other other two, Kumomon?"
"Ul-Ultimate and Mega." She answered.
"I remember you mentioning something like that when Babamon was fighting Baalmon." Shinyu said to Tigremon.
"What?!" The outburst from Tarumon and Kumomon preempted Tigremon's reply.
"Ba-Baalmon's the one who at-attacked us? W-Why?"
"Apparently, he's salty about Babamon inviting humans to the Digital World; so he decided to do something about it." Tigremon said with barely contained anger. "He injured Babamon and... and I don't know if she made it."
A heavy silence fell over the group.
Shinyu pictured Babamon lying in Ogremon's arms, and felt an ache in his chest. He'd only known her for a couple of hours, but she had been kind to him; and it was clear how much she cared about her world and the digimon in it.
He looked at Tigremon. Her claws were extending and retracting, and low growls were rumbling in her throat.
He gently laid a hand on her back. She stiffened at first, but then relaxed and leant into his touch.
"So, what now?"
Everyone looked up at Charlie's inquiry.
Tarumon took a deep breath and ran his hands over his face.
"We need to get you guys somewhere safe. Baalmon's followers may still be searching for you. And, judging from how viciously they attacked; I don't trust them not to do you harm."
"O-Or us." Kumomon added with a gulp.
Tarumon pointed at Kartik's bag.
"Kartik, may I take a look at the guidebook?"
Kartik passed it to him, and he flicked through the pages before stopping about midway through.
"Here we are."
He laid the book open on the ground. The others gathered around to see a map spread across two pages.
"This is Server; the continent we are on. Our best bet is to seek help from one of the other Gate Guardians."
He pointed a hoof finger at a small island around the middle of the map.
"This is File City. We fell off the South Bridge and the river carried us east." He traced a path as he spoke. "So we should be somewhere in Optimal Forest. The closest gate is in Saurus Fortress in Layer Desert to the south. It's guarded by MetalTyrannomon."
"A desert?" Charlie's face fell. "Are there any other options? I'm not a big fan of heat."
"Y-You ate an entire b-bowl of Red Hot R-Ramen earlier." Kumomon pointed out.
"There's a difference between enjoying hot food and trekking through a sweltering desert." Charlie answered. "I'm not exactly dressed for an arid environment."
She pointed to her beanie hat and hoodie.
"It's not so bad at night." Tarumon assured her. "If we approach from Sunshine Canyon; we can make it to Saurus Fortress in just a couple of hours."
"What happens once we get there?" Kartik asked.
"We tell MetalTyrannomon about Baalmon breaking the Guardian's agreement, and bring him back to File City so he can kick that belted up bozo and his goons out of our home!" Tigremon extended her claws, looking like she was ready to fight Baalmon herself.
"Are you sure he'll help us?" Asked Shinyu. "Won't he have his own gate to worry about?"
"MetalTyrannomon has the biggest army of all the Guardians." Answered Tarumon. "He should be able to spare enough warriors to send to File City."
Kumomon stretched each pair of legs in turn.
"O-Okay. So we h-have a plan. Now we sh-should find somewhere to sp-spend the rest of the night. It's n-not a good idea to s-sleep out in the open. The d-digimon that roam around in the d-dark aren't usually the fr-friendly kind."
"Didn't you mention something about hiding in fake trees?" Charlie said.
Despite herself, Kumomon felt a little impressed that Charlie had retained so much of the information she had given her. She nodded at the girl.
"That's right. And I've learned how to recognise them, even in the dark. So, follow me."
After putting out the fire, the group walked after Kumomon into the forest. The gray spider crawled to the left and right, searching for something the others couldn't spot.
"What exactly are we looking for?" Tigremon was the only one who could see in the dark and even she couldn't make out any difference between the identical looking trees.
"I-It's more of a f-feeling." Kumomon said. "The d-data is a bit... f-fuzzy. Ooh! I th-think I've found one!"
She walked up to a tree that didn't look any different to the others. She reached out a leg and, to everyone's surprise, it disappeared into the trunk.
"That is so cool." Charlie said with a grin.
The group gathered up some more of the soft leaves they had covered Shinyu with, and entered the tree trunk. It proved to be a fairly tight fit.
"It's a bit... cozy in here."
Kartik tried to keep his tone light, but he couldn't help but feel a bit uncomfortable being in such close proximity to the others; particularly Charlie.
The girl didn't seem bothered.
"It's only for one night." She said, while pulling her trainers off. "Kinda reminds me of when I was a kid and my parents took us camping."
Kartik went to lie down, only to straighten up again when a cross squeak sounded below him.
"Oh. Sorry, Relemon." He picked the baby digimon up. "Maybe you should sleep in my bag. Less chance of you getting squashed in there."
Relemon looked downcast at the prospect of sleeping alone.
"Here."
Kartik looked up to see Charlie holding her beanie hat out to him.
"She clearly wants to stay with you. This can be her sleeping bag."
Kartik took the offered hat and slipped Relemon into it. She snuggled in to the soft material and gave a quiet squeak of contentment. Kartik smiled and looked back to Charlie.
"Thank you."
Charlie smiled back and gave him a wink before lying down and pulling a leaf over her.
Kartik felt his cheeks heat up and quickly turned around; laying himself down with Relemon held gently next to his chest. He found himself face-to-face with Tarumon, who had a teasing smirk on his face.
"What?"
"Nothing. Good night, Kartik."
Shinyu curled up as much as he could; mindful of the limited space they all had. Tigremon didn't seem to have that problem.
She was lying on her side with her limbs stretched out in front of her. Her paws were only half an inch away from Shinyu's face. He hoped she didn't have a nightmare or something to make her claws extend, or he'd have a very unpleasant awakening.
For the first time in a while, Shinyu knew he'd have no trouble falling asleep. Just thinking about everything he'd experienced over the past two days caused his head to fog up with exhaustion.
Looking at the figures lying around him, he consoled himself with the knowledge that he wasn't alone in this.
With that comforting thought, he closed his eyes and let himself drift off into slumber.