10. Going Underground

"Th-There's more than one path through the c-canyon."
Kumomon drew a rough sketch in Charlie's notebook and turned it around so the others could see by the light of their campfire.
It depicted Sunshine Canyon with areas marked 'Wasteland' on either side. Through the wastelands were several lines snaking alongside the canyon, some intersecting with it.
"L-Like Tarumon said, the w-wastelands' data is unstable. I-It's full of tunnels formed f-from the shifting land. There are c-caves throughout the canyon l-leading in and out of these t-tunnels. We could use th-them to sneak around the a-ambush."
Tigremon was lying on her stomach, propping her head up with one paw. She felt sleepy after her bout as Smilomon, but she was trying hard to pay attention.
"How do you know so much about these tunnels?" She asked. "Have you been there before?"
"B-Briefly." Kumomon replied. "I p-passed through a couple of y-years ago. There were other d-digimon travelling through the c-canyon and I came across the t-tunnels while looking for a pl-place to hide."
"Do you remember where the caves are?" Asked Tarumon.
Kumomon nodded.
"I-I never forget a h-hiding place. There's one j-just beyond the entrance to the c-canyon that'll take us about h-halfway, and then another w-we can use to reach the e-exit."
"And Birdramon and Blitzmon will be none the wiser." Tarumon gave Kumomon an approving nod. "Great plan."
Kumomon felt her face warming up. She'd gotten more praise in the past few hours than she remembered getting her entire life. Plus, it actually felt good using her knowledge to do more than hide herself away.
Kartik threw some dirt over the fire to smother it. He then slipped under their camouflage sheet.
"Seems like we've got quite the trek ahead of us. We should rest while we can."
The others got under the sheet with him. It was much more spacious a sleeping place than the trees they'd spent the previous two nights in, but the thin material didn't provide much warmth.
"Brrr! Je suis gelé! If I'd known we'd be roughing it so much, I would've packed a sleeping bag." Charlie curled up, trying to keep her body heat from escaping. "Hey, Tigremon. Any chance you could become Smilomon again? With all that fur, you'd make a nice warm pillow."
"Haven't I done enough today?!" Tigremon snapped at her. "Digivolving takes a lot out of me! Why don't you do something useful for once?!"
Charlie flinched at her harsh tone. She turned away and curled up tighter.
Shinyu slapped Tigremon's ear.
"Don't take your bad mood out on Charlie! We both know she's not the one you're mad at!"
"Oh really? Then who am I mad at, oh wise one?"
"You're mad at the situation; for all the craziness we've been dragged into!"
"Oh wow! Real subtle. You mean the mess I dragged you into!You are never going to let me forget that, are you! Y'know, I left friends behind to protect you; not that you care!"
"I do care! I want Babamon and Ogremon and all the other digimon to be alright too! Yes, I'm mad at you for misleading me, but I still want to help the Digital World!"
"You could've fooled me! From the moment you got here, you always looked like you'd rather be anywhere else. It's like you're always on the verge of a panic attack!"
"My life is a panic attack! I'm an emotional wreck! How have you not noticed that?!"
"Well, maybe you could notice that I'm trying my best, even though I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing!"
"Fine! I'll try to be more supportive from now on!"
"Okay! And I'll try to be more considerate of your feelings! Charlie!"
The girl jumped up.
"Yes?"
"Sorry I yelled at you!"
"Oh. Uh, okay."
"Can we please go to sleep now?" Kartik had his hands over where he presumed Relemon's ears were. "Or do you two want to yell your feelings some more?"
Tigremon lay down and curled up.
"We're good. For now at least."
As everyone settled down, Shinyu stared through the thin sheet at the solid back sky above. His eyes followed the twinkling lights of a small data packet.
It had been a long time since he'd been so vocal about his feelings. Tigremon seemed to have a way of wheedling his emotions out of him, though he suspected that she had no idea she was doing it.
Still, it was nice to have someone around who didn't tiptoe around him or look at him with pity all the time.
As his eyes closed, he reached out his hand and laid it on Tigremon's back. There was no response from the digimon save for a slight shuffle as she shifted closer to him.

-

The land started to dip as the group headed south. They'd left the river behind them and the grass grew more scarce the further they walked.
After about an hour, they saw the ground rise before them, forming a wall of rock. It hosted sickly looking colours; black, gray, moldy green; as if the wall was rotting away.
To their right, they could see a wide opening revealing a stony path. The ground and walls lining it were a warm golden colour.
They'd arrived at Sunshine Canyon.
"It says here that, back when the Digital World had a sun; the canyon would absorb it's rays and glow with light and warmth." Kartik read from his guidebook. "Reptilian digimon would travel from all over to bask here. The light would help injuries heal, restore energy and, in some cases, trigger digivolution."
"Now hardly anyone comes here." Tarumon said sadly. "Unless they're travelling to or from Layer Desert."
Charlie began walking towards the canyon.
"That's what we're here to do. Where's the first cave, Kumomon?"
Kumomon crawled up next to her and pointed to the path.
"W-We have to go in a little f-further. It's on the right, h-hidden by a boulder."
"I hope Birdramon and Blitzmon are further down." Shinyu looked around cautiously as they entered the canyon. "None of this is going to matter if they can just follow us into the tunnel."
"Th-The caves are too small for B-Birdramon to fit." Kumomon said. "B-Blitzmon would be able to c-come after us though."
"And I can handle him." Tigremon added with a confident smile."
"Let's try to avoid fighting unless absolutely necessary." Said Tarumon. "That's why we're taking the tunnels in the first place."
"Hey, is this it?"
Charlie ran up to a large sand-coloured bolder lying by the canyon wall. On closer inspection, there was a shadowed dip in the wall behind it. She squeezed in behind the boulder and disappeared from view. Just as the others were starting to get worried, her arm appeared waving at them.
"Guys, you've got to see this!"
One by one, the group wiggled into the narrow gap and emerged in a wide tunnel.
The first thing they noticed was the pale green light that lit up the walls. It was emanating from small mushrooms that grew in clusters from cracks in the stone. The light didn't reach all the way to the high ceiling that disappeared into shadow above their heads.
"Th-These are lightshrooms." Kumomon pointed to the fungi. "Th-They grow all along the tunnels s-so we won't have to worry about f-finding our way in the d-dark."
She started to lead the way down the underground passage.
"Th-They're also edible, so we'll h-have plenty to eat w-while we're in here."
"Uh, how long exactly are we going to be in here?" Kartik kept casting his eyes to the dark ceiling of the tunnel.
"Hmm..." Kumomon thought back to her time travelling through the tunnels. "It took me two days to get through this tunnel and a day and a half to travel the second."
"So we're going to be underground for three and a half days?" Even in the green light, Kartik's face was visibly paleing.
"Are you okay?" Shinyu looked at him with concern. "Do you have claustrophobia?"
"No, no!" Kartik waved his hands dismissively. "Well, maybe a little."
He pointed to the ceiling.
"It's mostly that which concerns me. We're going to be sleeping in here and the dark could be hiding anything."
"If there are any digimon in here, they're most likely weak ones like Kumomon." Said Tigremon. "No offence."
"N-None taken." Kumomon replied. "I imagine any d-digimon using these tunnels pr-probably want to avoid a fight, j-just like us."
"So as long as we stick together in a group, we shouldn't have any trouble." Tarumon patted Kartik's hip and gave him a comforting smile. Relemon, who was sitting on the bovine's head, squeaked in agreement.
Kartik returned Tarumon's smile, but couldn't refrain from one last look at the hidden ceiling.
"Hey guys."
Everyone turned to look at Charlie, who was already munching on a handful of lightshrooms.
"Are my teeth glowing? They feel like they're glowing."

-

The first day in the tunnels went by without incident. They slept by a fire Charlie made with her matches and some pages from her notebook. The group took it in turns to stand guard, in case of any surprise visitors, but the night was quiet.
As they continued their trek the next day, they passed the time talking about their hometowns.
"Inokashira Park is perfect for relaxing. The trees block out all the sound so you can forget you're in a big busy city. And in spring people gather from all over to see the sakura blossom."
Shinyu couldn't help but feel a pang of homesickness as he described the park to his friends. He wondered how Arisu was doing. Was she regretting letting him go? Was she blaming herself again?
"Man, I would love to go to Japan." Charlie's voice snapped him out of his gloomy thoughts.
"I'm sure you'd do well there." He said to her. "You speak the language fluently."
Charlie turned her head and gave him a puzzled look.
"What are you talking about?"
Shinyu paused in confusion for a moment.
"I... I was saying that you speak Japanese very well." He looked to Kartik. "You both do."
Kartik halted in surprise.
"I don't speak Japanese."
"Me neither." Charlie added.
Kartik looked from one to the other, wondering if this was some kind of joke. But they both looked genuinely confused.
"You're speaking it right now!"
Charlie and Kartik exchanged glances and replied simultaneously.
"Uh, no. We're speaking English."
"We're speaking Hindi."
They stopped and looked at each other in confusion.
Tigremon let out a snicker and playfully nudged Shinyu.
"I was wondering when you guys were going to catch on."
Tarumon and Kumomon were exchanging amused looks as well.
Shinyu was starting to get annoyed.
"Catch on to what? Tigremon, explain."
Tigremon raised her paws in a placating gesture.
"Okay, so you humans have like, thousands of languages. Honestly, I don't know why you don't just pick one and stick with it."
"Because language is a big part of our cultures." Shinyu answered. "I know Japan wouldn't want to just give up the language it's used for centuries."
"Okay, okay. My point is, the Digital World has compiled data from all of your languages and combined it into one that all digimon use. It's called Digicode, and anyone can understand it. We can also understand your languages because they're a part of it. Didn't you think it was odd that people from a different world spoke your languages perfectly?"
Kartik fiddled awkwardly with his shirt.
"I just assumed that Tarumon had learned Hindi before coming to India. But, now that you mention it, it is a bit strange that every digimon I met spoke it too."
"Hold on a second." Charlie held her hands up and shook her head. "That explains how we can understand you guys, but what about us?"
She gestured to the boys and herself.
"We're not speaking in Digicode."
"Aren't you?" Tigremon cocked an eyebrow and grinned teasingly at the humans. "When you speak, do you consciously take notice of what your lips and tongue are doing?"
Kartik put his fingers to his mouth.
"Mera nam Kartik."
He looked to the others and could see from the looks on their faces that they didn't understand him.
"It's best not to think about it." Tarumon told him. "It's like breathing. Something that happens unconsciously."
"So the moment we entered the Digital World, it compelled us to speak in it's language without us even realising it." Shinyu couldn't help but feel a little unnerved by that realisation. "It's like the world itself is alive."
"Not alive per se." Tarumon replied. "More like an advanced computer program that's constantly learning and evolving, just like us digimon."
"I-I think that's enough f-freaking out the humans for t-today." Kumomon began walking down the tunnel again. "W-We still have a l-long way to go."
As they resumed their trek, Kartik couldn't stop thinking about the words coming out of his mouth.
"Aap kaise hain. Main theek hoon. This is so strange. Ah! Vahaan yah phir se hai!"
After about an hour's walking, Tarumon's ears flipped up.
"Does anyone else hear splashing?"
The group stopped and listened in silence.
The sound of trickling water was coming from a crevice on the left wall of the tunnel. Tigremon crept up closer and peered inside.
"It's a cavern. With a pool. And fish!"
She started squeezing herself into the crevice. It was tight but she was able to crawl through.
"Tigremon, be careful!" Tarumon called after her. "You don't know what could be in there!"
"I know exactly what's in here." She called back. "Something to eat other than vegetables and mushrooms."
She approached the pool, which was fed by a small stream running out of the wall. The water was dark but she could see the shapes of fish flitting through the water and occasionally jumping from the surface with a splash.
Tigremon licked her lips as thoughts of roast fish filled her mind. She unsheathed her claws and crouched over the water, ready to strike.
"Marching Fishes!"
An entire shoal of multicoloured fish shot out of the water and battered Tigremon in the face and stomach. It happened so fast, she was on her back before she could even get her arms up to defend.
"Tigremon!"
Tarumon wiggled through the crevice and helped her sit up.
"What happened?"
"I just got beaten up by my dinner!" She replied, rubbing her nose.
"And there's more where that came from!"
They both looked to the pool where a small white head with a shock of red hair was watching them, surrounded by the fish who had attacked Tigremon.
"You're not eating my friends!"
"Friends?" Tigremon got stiffly to her feet. "How long have you been down here? Fish aren't friends. They're fo-"
She was cut off by a round yellow fish leaping from the pool and spitting water in her eye.
"Yaaoow! Why you little -!"
"Hold it!" Tarumon grabbed her shoulders, stopping her from pouncing at the fish. "We don't want to pick a fight, remember?"
"Are you guys okay in there?" Charlie's voice sounded from the crevice. "We're hearing sounds of pain."
"We're okay." Tarumon called back. "We just wandered into a Gomamon's den."
"What's a Gomamon?" Charlie asked Kumomon.
"A-An aquatic digimon that r-resembles what you call a s-sea lion. They're usually f-friendly but can be - Hey! W-What are you doing?"
Charlie was pushing herself through the crevice.
"I love sea lions! I gotta meet this digimon."
She almost tripped over her own feet as she came out into the cavern. Looking up she saw a white furry head sticking out of the water. The digimon's mouth fell open upon seeing her.
"Is that a... a human?"
He seemed to forget about Tigremon and Tarumon as he swam to the edge of the pool and climbed out onto the rocky floor.
The digimon indeed looked like a small sea lion with long black claws on each of his flipper-like feet. His white fur had purple markings and tiny pointed teeth stuck out of his noseless muzzle. A mane of fiery red hair adorned his head between a pair of long thin ears.
Charlie knelt down as Gomamon approached, not even trying to control the excited smile that spread across her face at the sight of the adorable creature.
"Hi there. I'm Charlie." She held her hand out to him.
Gomamon briefly hesitated before placing his flipper in her hand. Charlie let out a delighted squeak at the feel of his soft fur.
"I'm... I'm Gomamon." The fur on his cheeks turned pink as he shook Charlie's hand.
"Apparently, Tigremon was going to eat his friends." Tarumon explained before turning and slapping Tigremon's paw as she reached for the fish again.
"Well that's what fish are for!" Tigremon said hotly, rubbing her paw.
"Not these fish!" Gomamon seemed to snap out of his reverie and crawled over to Tigremon, glaring up at her. "These fish have feelings. You can't eat them!"
"They do look a bit more... animated than any fish I've seen."
Tarumon looked back at the colourful creatures. They held a variety of expressions on their faces and appeared to be listening intently to their conversation.
"Didn't you say before that the Digital World is constantly evolving?" Charlie crouched down by the water's edge. "Maybe it's fish are evolving too."
"I don't want my food to evolve feelings!" Tigremon sounded outraged at the thought. "That's going to make meal times so awkward!"
Kumomon hopped out of the crevice, followed more slowly by Shinyu and Kartik. A pained squeak came from Kartik's bag as he squeezed himself through the gap.
"Sorry, Relemon." Kartik took the baby out of the bag and placed her on the ground.
"More humans!" Gomamon stared open-mouthed at the group before him. "Just who are you guys?"
After introducing themselves and explaining their situation, everyone settled down in Gomamon's den. He offered them some dried waterweed that everyone but Charlie politely turned down.
"So you live here all by yourself?" Tarumon asked, looking around the cavern.
In the corner was a pile of soft green algae that was flattened down as if someone had been sleeping on it, and there were various stones and shells lining the floor by the walls.
"I'm not by myself." Gomamon replied. "I've got my friends. And we don't just live here. There are underwater tunnels running under the whole canyon. I even dug some of them myself."
He flexed his long claws and smiled proudly.
"It's too bad we can't breathe underwater." Said Kartik. "We could get into the second tunnel without even having to set foot in the canyon."
"Second tunnel? Do you mean the eastern tunnel? You don't want to go in there." Gomamon firmly shook his head.
"Why not?" Kartik asked.
"Because there's a terrifying monster in there that'll kill you!" Gomamon waved his flippers in the air for emphasise. "A while back, my friends and I liked to chat with digimon travelling through the tunnels. We'd tell stories; they'd share some of their food. It was fun."
His voice took on a sinister tone, as if he was telling a spooky story around a campfire.
"But one day, something terrible happened. A group of Rookies, just like you, were walking through the eastern tunnel. I was about to come out of the water to say hello, when the darkness attacked them!"
"What?" Tarumon held Relemon protectively, although the baby digimon seemed to be enjoying the story.
"It happened so fast! The shadows seemed to sprout teeth and Wham! Their bodies were destroyed and the monster let out a deafening roar. I swam back here as fast as I could. I was too scared to go back, so my friends went to check things out. The monster is still there, and sometimes you can hear it's roar as it preys on more unsuspecting digimon."
Charlie swallowed a bite of waterweed with a gulp.
"Maybe we should rethink our travel plans."
"Oh, come on!" Tigremon made a waving away gesture as she lay, resting her head on a paw. "So some digimon has laid claim to the tunnels. I'll just have to show 'em who's boss."
"A-And while it's busy e-egging you, we can run t-to safety." Kumomon remarked. "I-I like that pl-plan."
"Nobody's getting egged." Tarumon said firmly. "We just need to make a choice. We can risk going through the canyon, hoping we've already passed Birdramon and Blitzmon; or we take our chances in the eastern tunnel."
Shinyu put his hand to his chin.
"I don't know about Birdramon, but Blitzmon didn't seem to want to hurt us."
"While this 'monster' sounds like it will aim to kill." Tarumon added.
"And we humans don't get to start over like you guys." Charlie pointed out.
"I can't believe this!" Tigremon stood up. "One scary story and you're all ready to give up and throw yourselves at Baalmon's goons!"
"Nobody's saying that." Kartik said in a calming tone. "We're just discussing our options."
"Throwing away our best chance of saving File City is not an option!" She shot back.
"Tigremon, settle down." Shinyu said sternly. "You're not helping."
"Don't tell me what to do!" She answered hotly. "You're not my master!"
"I never said I was!" Shinyu took a breath and continued in a milder tone. "I know you're angry and upset about Babamon and your home. But we're all on your side. We don't intend to give up. We're just trying to decide which path to take."
"And whichever one we pick; we're gonna need Smilomon." Charlie pointed out. "Think of it as choosing which butt you get to kick."
Tigremon stood breathing deeply for a moment. Finally, she sat down and crossed her arms.
"Just don't take all day about it."
"Okay, so canyon or tunnel. Thoughts?" Charlie looked around at the others.
"Maybe we should wait until we reach the end of this tunnel before we make a decision." Tarumon suggested. "If we scout the canyon and find no sign of our pursuers, then this won't even be an issue."
"That makes sense to me." Said Kartik.
The rest of the group nodded in agreement; Tigremon adding an eyeroll.
Shinyu stood up and bowed to Gomamon.
"Thank you for your hospitality, and your warning."
Gomamon nodded back.
"Good luck. I hope you don't get killed."
"And on that comforting thought, we go." Charlie led the way back through the crevice and their journey through the tunnel continued.

-

Two hours after leaving Gomamon, the group noticed the lightshrooms on the walls were starting to thin out.
"W-We're nearing the e-exit." Kumomon pointed ahead, where the outline of a boulder was visible in the mouth of the tunnel. "I-I'll go check for any s-sign of the ambush."
As she crawled towards the exit, the others took the opportunity to rest. But no sooner had they sat down than Kumomon came racing back down the tunnel.
"Th-They're outside! Directly o-outside! Right in front of the t-tunnel!"
Everyone followed her back to the boulder and peered around it.
"Oh you have got to be kidding me!"
Tigremon's claws scraped against the rock as she glared at the sight before her.
Almost directly across from them, Blitzmon and Birdramon were crouched behind a rocky outcrop. Their eyes were focused on the canyon trail; no doubt waiting for their targets to show up.
"Any chance we can sneak past them to the tunnel?" Tarumon asked Kumomon.
She shook her head.
"Th-They're standing right next to it. Th-The entrance is hidden by that o-outcrop."
"Well, looks like we've got no choice." Tigremon hopped up the boulder and crouched on the top. "I'm going to have to fight them."
"You can't take on two Champions by yourself!" Tarumon tugged on her tail.
"I've done it before. Right, Shinyu?"
"You mean against Blitzmon and that dragon? That was mostly because you surprised them. I don't think it would go the same in a straight fight."
"Wow. Thanks for believing in me."
"Hold on." Charlie held a hand up. "Maybe we can take them by surprise. Does anyone know what time it is?"
Relemon stuck her face out of Kartik's bag with his phone in her mouth. The screen showed the time as 17:50.
"Thanks Relemon." Charlie pointed to the white sky outside. "I've noticed that the sky always goes black at six pm. So if we wait another ten minutes, we'll have the cover of darkness to launch a surprise attack."
"I still don't think that'll be enough for Smilomon to defeat them both." Shinyu said, ignoring the glare Tigremon threw his way.
"She won't have to." Charlie replied. "She just has to distract them long enough for the rest of us to get into the tunnel. Then she can turn back into Tigremon and follow us in. Blitzmon and Birdramon are too big to chase after us."
She looked to the feline digimon.
"What do you think, Tigremon?"
For the first time, Tigremon looked unsure.
"I've never tried reverting on command before. Up to now, it's just happened when my energy ran out."
"We could try just sneaking past them and escaping down the canyon." Tarumon suggested. "We might make it in the dark."
"I-I don't know." Kumomon wiggled her legs nervously. "A-Avian digimon like Birdramon t-tend to have excellent eyesight. A-Any shadow out of place and she'll sp-spot it."
"Well, tigers are great at getting around unseen in the dark." Kartik pointed out. "Their stripes break up their shadow."
Tigremon breathed deeply through her nose and sat up straight.
"Okay. Looks like we've got no choice. I'm gonna unleash Smilomon on those bozos and you guys will run for the tunnel."
"What about the monster Gomamon mentioned?" Shinyu asked.
Tigremon flashed him a cocky grin.
"I'm a monster too. And I bet I'm scarier than anything we'll find in that tunnel."
"Didn't you get beaten up by a bunch of fish?" Tarumon mentioned with a teasing smile.
Tigremon didn't respond to him, save for an annoyed glare.
"Okay then." Charlie started hopping from foot to foot. "Great ready guys. Things are about to get loud."