25. Hitching a Ride

The coldness of the water cleared the fog from Shinyu's head. He swam in a practised breaststroke, keeping his eye on the green fish in front of him.
The small animal occasionally turned back as if to make sure that the group was keeping up with it, and Shinyu glanced over his shoulder to check on the others' progress.
Tigremon seemed to be having the easiest time. She swam back and forth across the tunnel with strong strokes; occasionally giving someone a nudge forward or pulling the slower swimmers along with her tail.
Charlie was making steady progress, pulling herself along the wall of the tunnel. Kumomon had her eyes tightly shut and all of her legs gripped onto her partner.
Tarumon was slowed down by the weight of Blitzmon and Coredramon; and Jazardmon who they were holding between them; but he strove on without pause. He waved off Kartik's offered hand and pointed to Relemon, who was held against the boy's chest, seemingly telling him to focus on the baby digimon.
Loogamon was nearest to Shinyu, kicking swiftly through the water. He had Baromon's cloak in his mouth, pulling the other digimon behind him. Baromon was mostly focusing on facing forward, trying to avoid being dragged backwards by the canine.
Shinyu's chest was starting to ache. It then occurred to him that no one had asked how far they would have to swim. What may be a short distance to a fish could be significantly longer for those who required regular oxygen intakes.
Looking ahead again, he noticed with alarm that the fish had disappeared.
Suddenly, the water around him started to move. He found himself being pulled forward, slowly at first but gradually faster and faster.
As he struggled to keep himself steady in the water, Tarumon raced by him. The bovine digimon was flipping around, caught in the current, with the chains from his head trailing behind him.
Before Shinyu could reach out for Tarumon, he was hit from behind by Blitzmon and Coredramon. The water was dragging them along so fast that he was flattened against them.
He couldn't stop himself from giving out a gurgling scream as the group was swept up a vertical curve in the tunnel. The pressure on him disappeared instantly as they flew out of the water.
They seemed to hang suspended in the air for a moment before gravity caught on and they fell onto a thick pile of algae that cushioned their landing.
"Wow. That was close." Gomamon stepped back from the pile, some strands of algae clinging to his white fur. "I'd just finished setting this up."
The green fish laying on his head hopped back into the sparkling pool in Gomamon's den with a tiny splash.
Shinyu found himself entangled in a mass of limbs. He could see Kartik's arm sticking out of the pile, holding up Relemon who was coughing and shaking her wet tail.
A steady stream of water poured from the drenched group and returned to the pool, leaving them dry but still chilled.
"G-Get off of me, you l-lummox!"
Kumomon's muffled voice came from under Coredramon. He rolled aside and she popped out of the algae gasping for breath. She was lifted up on Charlie's head as the girl emerged from the pile.
"Whoo! That was fun! Let's go again!"
"A-Absolutely not!" Kumomon rapped her partner on the head.
Baromon pulled himself free from the algae. He brushed down his robe and summoned flames in his palm.
"No fire!"
He jumped, extinguishing the flames, at Blitzmon's and Kumomon's shouts.
"Yeah, this stuff gives off an insane amount of smoke." Charlie explained. "Are you sure it's safe for you to be sleeping on this, Gomamon?"
"Well I don't breathe fire so I'm good." Gomamon started pulling sheets of algae off of the pile. "Wrap yourselves in these. They'll warm you up in no time."
Ten minutes later, the chill from their swim had gone and Gomamon had been brought up to speed on their situation.
"Wow. What a mess." Gomamon chewed on some dried waterweed. "This is why my friends and I prefer to live by ourselves. You get a big enough group of digimon together; eventually they'll find an excuse to pick a fight with someone."
"It's not that different in our world." Shinyu shrugged in agreement. "But our main concern is dealing with the threat to all of our groups."
"The smoke monster?" Gomamon looked to Baromon. "Are you sure it's not just another digimon? I spent ages thinking BlackGreymon was some kind of unholy beast just because I couldn't see him clearly."
"I'm just going on what I saw in my vision." Baromon replied. "If it is a digimon we're dealing with, it's certainly not one I know of."
"Can you have another look?" Kartik asked. "Maybe you'll notice something you missed last time."
Baromon shook his head.
"I can't just summon up a vision whenever I want. They come to me. I'm merely a messenger for the universe."
Tigremon almost spat out her waterweed as laughter shook her body.
"Messenger for the universe?!" She giggled. "What, was 'pen-pal of the cosmos' taken?"
"Watch your mouth!" Coredramon growled at her. "Baromon's visions have prevented lots of disasters back at Login Mountain. You laugh, but you're heading to File City to face the threat he's warned you about."
"We were heading to File City anyway!" Tigremon shot back. "As far as I'm concerned, the biggest threat is still your boss! If this smoke monster does exist, I'll bet bits that he has something to do with it!"
"Let's not start fighting again." Shinyu firmly gripped Tigremon's shoulder and gave her a stern look before turning to their host. "Gomamon, you said before that you dug a lot of tunnels underneath the canyon. Do you think you could dig one into File City?"
Gomamon dropped his snack and stared at Shinyu open-mouthed for a few seconds.
"You're kidding, right? A tunnel all the way to File City? That would take weeks to dig!"
"You wouldn't have to dig that far." Tarumon opened the guidebook and lay it down so that Gomamon could see the map. "If you can take us further north, we could catch the river running towards File City. From there, we'd just need to get under the North Bridge. The City's food is grown near there so the earth should be easy to get through."
"We can help with the digging." Blitzmon gestured to himself and Coredramon. "We just need your water controlling abilities to keep us from getting swept away while we work."
Gomamon nibbled the tip of a claw as he looked thoughtfully at the map.
"I do know of a tunnel that runs north under the wasteland. I could dig a connection to the river in a couple of hours." He looked worriedly towards the pool where several fish were poking their heads out of the water as if listening to the conversation. "But I'd need my friends' help to get you all there; and I don't like the idea of taking them to a place that's about to become a battlefield."
"We know this isn't your fight, Gomamon." Shinyu nodded in understanding. "We don't expect you or your friends to put yourselves in harm's way. If you can just help us get into File City, we'll handle the rest."
Gomamon lowered his eyes in thought for a moment.
"Can I have a minute to talk it over with them?"
He crawled over to the pool and slipped into the water. The fish disappeared under the surface to join him.
"So, we're just accepting the fact that he talks to fish?" Baromon looked around incredulously at the group. "Are we sure this is someone we can count on?"
"You're one to talk, Mr. Universe Messenger," said Tigremon.
A few minutes passed before Gomamon emerged from the pool. He crawled back to the group with a smile on his face.
"We'll help you. Thanks to you guys, we got our home back. It's only right that we help you save yours."
"Thank you, Gomamon." Kartik put his hands together and looked the digimon in the eye. "Can we help you with the digging?"
"Nah. We can handle that." Gomamon casually waved a flipper. "You guys should rest while you can. Once we hit the water, it'll be no stops 'til we reach File City."

-

Octomon sucked on the straw of his water bottle, trying to ignore Bakemon's snoring.
They'd been honoured to be chosen to watch over Baalmon's most valuable prisoner, but days of standing in a room with Babamon's unmoving form had quickly lost it's lustre.
The tiny Fujitsumon on his head roused Octomon from his daydreaming and he sharply prodded Bakemon with a clawed tentacle. The ghost digimon spluttered into wakefulness and was about to berate Octomon for disturbing his sleep when the door began to open.
Both guards quickly stood to attention on either side of Babamon's bed just as Baalmon entered the room.
"Any changes?" Baalmon asked; though it was clear from his voice that he already knew the answer.
"Nothing yet, sir." Octomon saluted with his cutlass.
Baalmon nodded towards the door.
"You two go get some rest. I'll take over here. I need some time to myself."
The guards tried not to look too eager as they left. Soon Baalmon was standing alone, looking over Babamon.
Her wound had completely closed up and the field of light surrounding her body had disappeared a few days ago; yet she had shown no sign of waking up.
Baalmon suspected he knew why.
He drew his dăshénbiān and wrapped a talisman around the ridged sword. Holding it blade-down, he lowered his weapon until the tip touched Babamon's body.
A black spark danced along the blade, quickly followed by another and another. The talisman glowed white as a dark circle formed on Babamon's chest.
Smokey black tendrils began to emerge from her body. They were drawn to Baalmon's sword and travelled up the blade to the talisman. The white paper began to darken as it soaked up the shadowy vapours like a sponge.
Finally, the last of the darkness left Babamon's body and flowed into the talisman. The blackened charm crumbled away into ash.
Baalmon gave his sword a shake and returned it to it's sheath before turning his attention to Babamon.
She was still and silent. Not a sound or a twitch indicated any sign of consciousness.
Baalmon leant over her, looking for any sign of remaining infection. Finding none, he moved his face closer to hers.
"Ba - "
A fist to the side of his face cut off his calling her name. He flew to the nearest wall, knocking over a tray of medical tools on his way.
Sliding down to the floor, he had to move some loosened wraps from his eye to see Babamon hopping off the bed and striding menacingly towards him.
"I suppose I deserved that." He said as he rubbed his stinging cheek.
"That was nothing!" Babamon ran her hand along the wall as she approached him. She reached into the screen of static that had appeared and pulled out her broom. "I'm just getting started!"
"Wait!" Baalmon held a hand up pleadingly. "I need your help!"
"You need a good rear kicking! That's what you need!" Babamon raised her broom up over her head.
Baalmon shut his eyes.
"The humans are in danger!"
When Babamon's broom didn't come crashing down on his head, Baalmon dared to open his eyes.
Babamon had paused mid-swing and slowly lowered her broom.
"What kind of danger?"
Baalmon pulled himself up into a more dignified sitting position.
"It's a long story - "
"Then summarise." Babamon poked him in the chest with her broom handle.
Baalmon let out a long sigh.
"How much do you know about the history of the Digital World?"

-

Shinyu's footsteps echoed throughout the dark tunnel. He couldn't remember how he had come to be there, or where he was going, but he kept walking without pause.
Suddenly a large clawed hand burst from the ground ahead and lunged for him. He managed to jump back quick enough to avoid it's grasp only for a second to reach down for him from the ceiling.
Ducking his head, Shinyu ran down the tunnel narrowly avoiding the grasping claws that kept appearing from the shadows.
Ahead, a circle of light shone. If he could reach it, he'd be safe; Shinyu knew it.
A jolt of pain shot through his leg and he fell to the hard ground. Looking back, he was horrified to see one of the hands holding tightly on to his leg.
Turning desperately back to the light, a wave of relief washed through Shinyu as he saw Smilomon stepping into the tunnel.
He tried to call out to her, but no sound would come out of his mouth.
Smilomon's eyes were not on him but fixed on the shadowy hands writhing in the tunnel. She drew in a deep breath, and Shinyu's blood ran cold.
A deafening roar shook the walls, bringing rocks crashing down around Shinyu. He reached out weakly for Smilomon, but she had already turned away. Her retreating figure was the last thing he saw before darkness engulfed him.
Shinyu's eyes opened. At first he thought he had really been buried alive, but then realised that Tigremon's paw was covering his face.
He moved the sleeping digimon's arm back to her side, then sat up and looked around Gomamon's den.
Almost everyone else was sleeping on mats of algae. The escape from Saurus Fortress, plus the flight and swim that had followed, must've worn them all out.
The only one who was sitting up was Baromon. He had his back to the others and was speaking softly to Jazardmon's still body. Shinyu felt that he should give the digimon some privacy but, at the same time, he wasn't certain if Baromon could be trusted or not.
Gently uncurling Tigremon's tail from his leg, Shinyu eased himself closer to Baromon.
"I know what you want to say. This is too big a risk. There's too many unknown variables. We should hold off on making a move until we have more information.
Well, the information I do have tells me that time is of the essence. And if I have to cooperate with humans and their sycophants to save Baalmon, then I shall do so.
You can lecture me all you want after we fix you."
Baromon laid a hand on Jazardmon's back.
"You'll be back to normal soon. I'll find a way. I promise."
Tigremon snorted loudly in her sleep, startling Baromon. He turned around to see Shinyu awake and facing him. His blue face took on a tint of red.
"Eavesdropping, are we? Is privacy not a concept in your world?"
"Sorry!" Shinyu instinctively bowed his head. "I was just..."
He looked to Baromon's hand still resting on Jazardmon's back.
"He's your partner, isn't he?"
Baromon turned back around so he wasn't looking at Shinyu.
"My wings, yes."
Shinyu thought back to the things he'd heard back in the canyon.
"Like Blitzmon and Coredramon, and Birdramon and Baalmon. Are you all paired up like that?"
Baromon was silent for a moment before answering.
"Most of us. Usually the ones who can't move very fast on our own are given wings to help us." He nodded towards Blitzmon and Coredramon who were snoring side by side. "Though in their case, it's Blitzmon who helps Coredramon. I've never met a winged digimon so ill-suited for flying."
Seemingly catching himself speaking casually to Shinyu, Baromon straightened up and went silent.
Shinyu looked at Tigremon. Parts of his dream were still clear in the back of his mind.
"You must trust him a lot."
Baromon peeked over his shoulder at Shinyu. Seeing him look at Tigremon with doubt in his eyes surprised him. He'd thought that the File City digimon had made some sort of pact with the humans in exchange for access to their power. Looking at the boy seeming so lost made him start to wonder if either side really knew what they were getting into.
A splash from the pool drew both their attention. Gomamon clambered out onto the stone floor, the water running smoothly off of his fur.
"We're just about done." He reported. "One more push and it's into the river. You all better get ready."
Baromon began rousing his comrades while Shinyu shook Tigremon's shoulder. She snorted again before blinking up at him.
"Oh, hey Shinyu. I was just dreaming about you."
"You don't say." Shinyu put on a small smile. There was no sense starting a fight with Tigremon over something that had happened in a dream.
"We were all eating some digimeat and you took the last drumstick!" Tigremon poked him in the chest. "I'd called dibs on it and everything!"
Shinyu looked at her in silence for a moment.
"I'm sorry?"
"Well, don't do it again." Tigremon got up and went to join the others. Shinyu inhaled deeply through his nose and exhaled slowly through his mouth before following her.
Everyone was gathered around Gomamon. Charlie was still fighting her way back to wakefulness.
"So we're going for another swim?" She asked through a yawn.
Gomamon shook his head.
"You wouldn't be able to hold your breath for that long. I've got something else in mind."
He turned back to the pool and called out,
"Marching Fishes!"
The surface of the water frothed with bubbles before a school of fish emerged. There were so many that almost the entire pool was covered in colourful scales.
Gomamon turned back to the others.
"Climb on."
"Excuse me?" Baromon looked disbelievingly at the fish. "Are you suggesting that we use these creatures as a raft?"
"More like a pod." Gomamon replied. "They'll surround you so tightly that no water will get in. We'll swim you guys through the tunnel."
Looking around, Gomamon could see that most of the group seemed to share Baromon's misgivings.
"Don't worry. My friends are stronger than they look. They can carry you."
"I'm more concerned with the 'keeping the water out' part," said Kartik. "I can't imagine a bunch of fish being very airtight."
"We don't really have a lot of options." Tarumon pointed out. "Besides, I'm sure Gomamon knows what he's doing."
Relemon gave a reassuring squeak from the top of Tarumon's head, not noticing the questioning look he was giving Gomamon.
"Of course I do." Gomamon answered with a wave of his flipper. "We use this technique to move my stuff between caves. It almost always works just fine."
"Almost?" Coredramon took a step back from the pool.
"Oh, come on you big Baby-Levels!" Relemon squeaked in offense at Tigremon as the feline digimon jumped onto the tightly packed fish.
"Hey, this tickles!" Tigremon giggled as the fish wiggled under her feet. "Come abroad, guys. It's fine."
Not wanting to be shamed by a Rookie, Baromon smoothed down his robe and stepped gingerly onto the school. The fish held firm and he was able to sit down without falling over.
One by one, the group climbed onto their unusual transport. Blitzmon and Coredramon went last, carrying Jazardmon and laying him down in the middle of the school.
"Okay, here we go!"
Gomamon raised his flipper and the fish around the edge of the pool started leaping on top of each other. They started to form a wall around the group that curved up into a roof.
Tigremon breathed on her goggles and rubbed them before placing them over her eyes. Shinyu gave her a questioning look.
"Just in case." She said with a shrug.
Shinyu took another slow deep breath as the fish finished forming the roof and the group was plunged into darkness.

-

Baalmon stood watching Babamon. She had her back to him and was looking out of a window in silence. The only sign of tension was the tightness with which she held her broom beside her.
"Just what do you expect me to do with this information?" Babamon's voice was low and even, but Baalmon could practically feel the stress coming off of her.
"I'm not asking you to do anything." He replied. "Just understand why I had to do what I did."
Babamon whipped around to face him.
"You didn't have to attack my digimon and abduct the humans! You could've spoken to me! I could've helped you!"
"He would've known!" Baalmon shot back. "He's been watching me all this time! He's only just now started to let his guard down, and I don't know how long that'll last! He could awaken again at any moment! If you want to save the humans, you have to act now!"
Babamon growled through gritted teeth. She pointed her broom at Baalmon.
"We're not done. You and I are going to have a long talk later."
She opened the window and seated herself upon her broom. With shocking speed, she flew out the window and out of sight.
Baalmon walked up and looked out as the black of night was instantly replaced by the white of day.
"I sincerely hope so."