Ch10
A bit busy this week, so this chapter will be the shortest one so far.
It's another break, not because they tired but because their first destination has something more than they initially thought. Their position isn't far from the spot where they arrived yesterday. Once again, they find themselves waiting in that dead snowy forest. The three strongest tamers and Yamaki are waiting for Renamon to come back silently while the rest of them are chatting not far from them. From all of them, the one who worries the most is Ruki. She keeps looking at her D-Ark, checking her partner's position constantly.
No matter what Renamon said before, she just can't help but be worried. "It'll be a quick one, bringing you with me is too dangerous, Ruki." The girl sighs again, she only gave Renamon some speed boost and defense before watching her disappear on the snowfall. To calm herself down, she looks around and finds Yamaki standing beside her. "I'm fine, you better check them rather than me."
Yamaki shakes his head. "I know." He said it without looking at her, still not moving from his spot. "Dealing with them isn't my thing, just let our leader deal with that."
"Hah, 'our leader'?" She chuckled. Now she's able to think of something else besides her partner. "Sure sure, go on and keep blabbering about that. Deep down you still can't fully trust him to be that guy.. but so do I." It made him chuckle as well, a simple talk that put some ease to both of them.
After waiting silently beside Jian, Takato walks towards one of the girls there. It's been half an hour waiting for Renamon to come back, so he better check everyone else's spirits for now, especially when they have two inexperienced tamers with them. The two tamers in question are talking with his close friends, they seem to be having fun chatting over cards and Lopmon, so he decides to ask her instead. Suddenly, he felt a bit nervous. For some reason, she's not talking with anyone, just staring at her D-Ark, he assumes it's just because of the recent event they had.
"Something wrong, Takato? You froze while staring at me, are you okay?"
That caught him off guard. Even though she asked calmly, he awkwardly tried to brush it off with a chuckle. "Haha, I'm good. I was about to ask if you're okay-I mean if they're okay."
Juri giggled when she saw his expression. "I don't need to tell you that, right?" She replied while looking at them. "They seem to be fine even when our arrival was in a way better condition, maybe it's thanks to you who kept telling them about this world before."
What she said made him think for a moment. "Am I talking too much? Haha, I uhh.. I don't even realize that, to be honest with you. I'm not looking weird when I do that, right?" He doesn't recall those too well, but she might be right about that. "I just miss him, that's why." He startled a bit when she pats his back, now he's embarrassed because he's the one who was supposed to check on them. "Thanks Juri, so how is he? Everything's fine on your end as well?"
To his relief, Juri smiled and nodded. "I don't know what to say, I just.. haha.." Juri unable to say much, he could see from her face that she gets overwhelmed by joy. After a moment, she finally spoke again. "Ahem, I already told him the basic stuff. So.." Juri points out at them. "I let Kazu handle more of it for now, he's the expert after you three. Anyway, you think Renamon will be back soon?"
"Maybe, I just hope she's fine." Takato glances back at Ruki. "Never seen Ruki that worried for a long time."
"Mhmm. Hey, I'll play with Ai for now. Don't be gloomy like that, once Renamon comes back, we'll find Guilmon together." Juri says as she walks away, Takato does the same and walks back to Jian since everyone seems fine.
Fifteen minutes later, Renamon comes back safely. Not even a scratch or bruise on her body, mostly thanks to the snowfall that concealed her scouting. They gather in a circle, ready to plan out their next move. It didn't take a long time for Renamon to explain everything, and she scouted more areas than they were discussed earlier. She went beyond the place where they met Gaomon, to a place where she arrived on this plain. There are so many Digimons guarding that place now, unlike when she arrived before, but Renamon has already found a good route, although it's a bit further.
Walking through snowfall should be hard, especially with the clothes they currently wear. It should be, but it's not, they don't even feel that cold. Still, they're trying to move as fast as possible and that helped a lot thanks to Vajramon who carries most of them. About an hour later, they stopped again, this time they can barely see the outskirts of this 'base'.
Renamon checked it once more. "There is a hole, a way, or a portal to another plain in the middle of this. That's where I came from, but I don't think we can go there."
"What do you mean?" Takato asked. "You did that alone, right?"
The vixen shakes her head, she stares in the base direction again. "There was no one before, it's empty, I don't think they guarding it because of me." Renamon stopped, thinking for a moment before looking at them. "Maybe because that fight."
Takato looks up, then grabs his goggle. "The snow will cover us, I'll go first."
"No, that's too risky." Replied Jian, he glances at the rest of them, most of them including him don't have their partners to protect them. "They must have some places with high ground, that's the best place for Commandramons. This weather is perfect for Ikkakumons and Zudomons. Not to mention we need to deal with Sealsdramon, he's just going to get us one by one. We get captured once they find out and we can't split up either.." They can see he wants to say something, but too scared to do so. In the end Jian opens his mouth again. "There is a way.. it's.. ahh.."
"We need diversion, I get that."
Everyone looks at Yamaki, the blond man keeps his cool as always. Now some of them can understand why Jian hesitated to say it. Now that Jian's plan revealed, a new problem arises, who? They fall into silence, not only is it hard to decide but each of them reluctant to say it first. But then, Vajramon stepped up to do that on his own volition.
Yamaki stopped the deva before he could leave. "Don't, once they see you, they will only send a bunch of Zudomons." His eyes darted away to another Digimon who sitting on Vajramon's back. "Can you do it again?"
Siduramon chuckles when he hear that. "Bah! You need to question that!? Don't underestimate me, madman. But you see the problem, right?" Asked Sinduramon, which replied with a nod by Yamaki.
"Hey hey, you sure your mind is in the right place, Yamaki? I don't want to explain things to your fiancee once all of this is done, do that yourself."
That warning makes Yamaki chuckles, all of them have never seen him this relaxed. "She's not my fiancee, and I'll do that myself." He grabs Sinduramon's body, ready to go to that base first. "Just wait for the signal. Once you see it, you know what to do." He stops for a moment, looking at Takato. The boy nods and smiles at him, which eases up Yamaki even though he's not even started yet.
It doesn't take a long time before they disappear into the snowfall, and the rest of them are back to the waiting game once again.
A bridge—that's the closest thing that resembles these vines they're walking on. Big, thick, and most importantly, long. These vines connect big trees to each other, creating a way for Digimons to move from one to another. Every few trees, there is always at least one that is bigger than others and connected by those vine bridges. These 'main' trees are always used as a house by some Digimons. After seeing the deeper part of this jungle, it's more like a village, but very vast and unique in its own way. The atmosphere isn't hostile anymore but rather peaceful, most of those Digimons just glance at them or greet Ajatarmon, some even ask about their injuries, which confuses them even more.
It's raining again, and now the vines they are on are wet despite these leaves on top of them act like an umbrella. Impmon slipped and fell, he laughed by Terriermon who's walking behind him. "Heh, moumantai Impmon, we're not in a rush." Terriermon walks past him but is tripped by Impmon's tail. Now he almost falls down from the bridge, his ears quickly grab Impmon which makes both of them fall.
Fortunately, Ajatarmon is there to save them. His vines arms are able to extend themselves and catch them both. "Careful." He saved them but they don't seem to be happy or grateful about that. They quickly pry his grip open and shove his arms away. Ajatarmon isn't angry at all, he just shorten his arms again. "If you still tired, I can give a ride, don't be shy."
Terriermon scoffs at him. "Not a chance."
"Yeah, I rather get deleted than carried by you." Added Impmon without any fear in his eyes. Once again, Ajatarmon doesn't get angry, he's not even sighing.
After taking one or two minutes just standing there, Impmon and Terriermon resume their walk. They continue from one bridge to another and Terriermon slips a few steps on the next vine bridge, this time his friend catches him even if he caught his big ears. When there is no complaint from Impmon, Terriermon stares weirdly at him, Impmon is focused on something else. He turns to see Ajatarmon, their enemy is talking to a Floramon that passes by. Since there is nothing to ask, Terriermon just says he's fine and they continue walking again.
When they passed another bridge, Impmon poked Terriermon with his elbow, just enough to get his attention without talking. Then, he slips and falls on the bridge, hitting the vine head first. "This damn cursed forest.. it just getting worse and worse." As he expected, Terriermon is quickly helping him, but it's not only his friend who gives him a hand. This time, he grabs that hand to get up. "Thanks."
At last, they arrived at the supposed place. This is just another tree but a dead one, a big dead tree without leaves. Its middle is just like the place they've been kept in before, just way bigger. The area surrounding this tree is also different from the other 'main' trees, it has bigger trees than the usual size in this forest and no low level Digimons can be seen. There are seven vine bridges that are connected to this one, encircling it. Below them, there is a swamp filled with green mud, it somewhat looks sticky. Impmon and Terriermon sit in the middle of it, they expect Ajatarmon to sit with them but he just walks away.
"Hey! Are we some kind of offering here!?" Impmon yelled at him, Ajatarmon turned and shook his head before resuming his walk. He quickly gets up and moves to one of the vine bridges, Terriermon does the same. They don't know much about this place and decide not to act rashly. "You saw that, right?"
Terriermon nodded. "I won't say that I hate it, but.." He shakes his head. "I don't know! I'm tired! I just.. want to believe it.." They stare at each other, it's clear from their expression that they have the same thing in mind. "Hahhh.. moumantai.. moumantai.." Says Terriermon while he strokes his own chest.
After a moment of silence, Impmon starts talking. "This reeks so bad, but something bugs me out. It's different, different.. it's not like that."
That makes Terriermon frown. "Not like what?"
"Not like-.." Impmon sighs, he doesn't want to explain it but they just have very different lives. "Nothing was offered, just.. he just asking it so bluntly. He's not like that monster, that monster who ruined my life."
"What?" Terriermon gets even more confused and Impmon stops. The purple rookie suddenly becomes lost in his own thoughts. "Hello? Is Mr tough guy here? I can't read your mind, just so you know."
"H-Huh? I mean-"
The time they desperately need for discussion is gone, Ajatarmon is coming again. When Ajatarmon sees them waiting outside the tree, he steps inside first as a way to gain their trust, even greeting them more politely this time. He brought some fruits with him and just like last time, he needs to consume at least one of them first. All of them just sit there, eating fruits. The silence slowly gets to Impmon's nerve.
"This is dumb, are you really trying to get us to your side with silent treatment?" Impmon asked.
Ajatarmon shakes his head. "I thought you didn't like me talking too much, aside from that.." He pointed at their bodies, they still have bruises all over them. "Take your time, it should be soon enough. He must be on something right now."
"Who's he?"
Suddenly, the ground rumbles. They're surprised when they look behind them, huge thorny vines start to sprout from the swamp, like a huge wall surrounding them. Escape is out of the question, that's if they could get away from Ajatarmon first, which is very unlikely when looking back at their first time meeting him. Ajatarmon holds both of their shoulders, trying to calm them down.
"It's okay, calm down. This is just some precaution." They all sit back again as those huge vines stop growing. "Sorry about that, I didn't think he'd be ready this soon."
Something is coming out of the middle of the tree they're on. Impmon and Terriermon are too surprised to say anything.
"It's not too long, right?" He chuckles. "I've been waiting for you two, for quite some time, actually."
An hour passes, but the signal they've been waiting for hasn't yet come out.
"W-Wings!?" Gaomon is confused, he doesn't understand what Mako meant by that. "Did you mean I can fly with my arms?" He imagines himself flapping his arms like Digimons who have wings on their backs, or Digimons who naturally resemble birds. Just thinking about it makes him frown, it's just weird to think of something like that to begin with.
Gaomon can only shake his head when he looks back at Mako. "Really? It's like uhhh.." Mako, who has never seen the effect of the card he holds also has a hard time describing it, he only heard that Guilmon had wings on his back before. He finally recalls his partner's mega form, which makes him giggle since it took him a long time to imagine it while his own partner has somewhat the same thing. "Not with arms, I meant there will be wings on your back."
Not far from them, Kazu with Kenta, Shaocung, and Ai laughing at them. "It's wing, wings. You know wings, right?" Kazu tries to gesture out how wings work, but that's still hard to understand from Gaomon. Those four finally stop their laugh when Juri steps in, though the girl isn't angry at all.
Both Gaomon and Mako get closer to Juri, the blue dog shakes his head again. "I can understand, but how does it feel?" He asked her, that's the only part that he still doesn't understand.
"Oh, I thought you never seen wings." She giggled, but then still can't explain that. "That's.. no one knows." Thinking about it again, Juri still unable to give him any answers. "If you want to know it so bad, we can try it out but I think it'll feel natural when you get it. Should we try it now?"
"Well-"
Gaomon's bright face changes and he stops talking when Ruki comes over, apparently they need to discuss something while waiting. Juri asks Mako to join his sister for now, fearing that this could be a sensitive topic. Takato and Jian start first, there is Lopmon as well although Shaocung is still playing with Ai. Their faces aren't that grim, but clearly there is something that bothers them.
"Something went wrong, Takato?" Juri asked and he nodded right away. "Is it uhh.. Yamaki?"
Once again, Takato nodded, her hunch was right. "We can't let him get captured just like that, we were coming to this place together. I don't want to leave anyone behind." He explained. "The problem is.. we need to split right away to get him, so we need Gaomon and your help."
There are a few seconds of silence before Juri grasps what he just said. "Wait, what?" She looks at Gaomon who's looking at her, both confused. "Takato, you're not serious about that, right? We, umm.. just.. you know.."
"That's my job, Juri." Ruki giggled, she just can't help it. "Your part is to carry some of them." Her eyes darted in their direction. "Just one or two, Vajramon and Lopmon will carry the rest of us while me and Renamon go for him." Both Juri and Gaomon are relieved that they don't get the hard part, it's not like they refuse it but simply because they're well aware of their current limit.
Watching them discuss this is enough to impress Vajramon, but he still has a little uneasy feeling. "Are all of you sure about this? I can be the one who picks them up, it going to be a dangerous one." He glanced at Ruki and Renamon. "No, I'm not doubting your power." He added, afraid that he offended them. Ruki and Renamon silence is enough to let him know that they understand.
"We understand your task, Vajramon. But in this case, we need speed more than anything. Gaogamon might have enough speed and power, yours is even better, but not as fast as Kyubimon." With an explanation from Jian, everyone agreed and clear on their own task. He then turns to Lopmon. "I'll trust my sister with you, I know you can guide her if I can't."
Lopmon smiled. "Of course, she's-"
Zooomm! A light shines from quite far away in the sky, it's so visible despite the heavy snowfall. Everyone is on alert instantly, Juri and Ruki scrambling to get the right card while Lopmon is running to his partner. But before all of them could do that, a huge explosion sound heard with white-yellowish electricity crackling from the source of that light. That light fades immediately and everyone knows what that is—the signal!
This one wasn't planned to be this short, but I cut some big part of it because of my schedule and after re-reading it. The next one going to be way longer than this, thanks for reading!