The breeze flowed gently through Senna's short hair and she inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of the natural world around her. She sat on top of one of the buildings and watched the busyness of the village through the rays of the sun rising above the canopy. Having time to just sit and relax, she was able to appreciate the work and life here; larger Digimon were coming to and from the forest, some bringing food, and others bringing fallen branches, leaves, and other material to keep the community going.
Senna stroked her own shirt; the silk she learned had been gathered far from the village, from a Digimon known as Dokugamon. Apparently they had a method of scrubbing the silk to remove the poison, which was then used for medicine and antivenom in itself. The inner linings of her pants were made of the same stuff, though the outer layer was something akin to canvas made of material gathered from the trees. This made it, much to her delight, incredibly comfortable and durable.
Senna had asked Palmon and Floramon why they even developed these procedures; as far as she could tell Digimon all were born with their clothes. She had been shocked when she was told the children and babies sometimes dressed up and played, and that sometimes even the adults joined in. Senna giggled at the mental image of Metalgreymon wearing a flowery kimono.
Digimon were not so different from humans, she thought, as a large blue wolf led a conga line of children and baby Digimon of all different shapes and sizes. Blue, yellow, red; Senna marveled at the diversity on display here. A far cry from what she was used to back home.
Garurumon + Kids [https://ic.pics.livejournal.com/immortalfork/97476102/1009/1009_original.png]
She turned to Biyomon, who was snuggled up next to her, soft pink feathers brushing against her arm. "Say, Biyomon, do you think you'd ever want to join that school?" Biyomon opened her eyes and looked at her, crocking her head.
"Why? Just being with you I can turn into an adult. Is school... fun, or something?" Senna put a finger to her chin, then smiled at her with closed eyes.
"You know, I can't really remember. It's been so long." She looked down at the street, the school of Digimon having gone into the building they were sitting on top of. Memories of old simmered in the back of her head; it felt so distant, but in this clear place it came flooding back to her. Running. Laughter. Love. Memories of being as free as she could be. "I miss having friends, Biyomon. I may be the only one to think this, but I'm glad to be here, by your side and by the side of the others." She whispered, and Biyomon enveloped her in her wings, beak touching the side of her face.
"If you don't want to leave me, you will never have to, Senna." Biyomon whispered back. Senna took comfort in her words; it felt different, more assuring, than even when her own mother talked to her. The past three days, despite the danger, had been a source of comfort to her. With Biyomon by her side, she felt whole, and that she could tackle whatever came her way.
"Just don't turn into a doctor, okay?"
—
Tavaras groaned, his muscles glistening with sweat. A cool breeze along wet arms made him tense up even further. It felt weird to have that sensation alongside the noon sun beating down on him from atop the canopies. He dropped the log he was carrying on the building pile, and Dorumon, holding the other side, did the same. He flexed his hands, the rough wood starting to form calluses.
He grinned as he looked at his purple partner. He felt like the little brother he never had, emulating his actions. He had felt strangely close to the small creature, ever since he had "Digivolved", whatever that meant. Dorumon grinned back at him, both of them finding pleasure in helping this little community.
"Not bad for someone so puny, '' a voice called out. Tavaras turned to find Tyrannomon watching him, the giant red T-Rex's pile of logs significantly larger than Tavaras's own. He shrugged his shoulders.
Tyranomon [https://wikimon.net/images/thumb/2/29/Tyranomon.jpg/320px-Tyranomon.jpg]
"Quality over quantity, big guy." The young man grinned widely as Guardromon intentionally bumped into the large red dinosaur. It had been two days since they had spoken to Jijimon, and Tavaras had actually enjoyed his time here. Besides sleeping, he had spent it out in the forest with these goobers. Keeping busy kept his mind from worrying too much.
He remembered the night after, both he and Imogen had been frustrated with Jijimon's suggestion to take it easy. Both were so single mindedly focused on getting home they hadn't considered what it had meant when the old man had brought up the time dilation. The way Deon reminded them, they could spend months here and not a day would have passed. This put both their minds at ease, and Tavaras at the very least was able to enjoy the serenity of the nature around them.
THUD
He jumped as loud noise from behind brought him out of his thoughts. "Quality and quantity, little man." A wooden creature laughed as he and his two brothers lay a log on a wide pile. The Woodmon had a knack for finding the best quality logs, that was for sure.
Woodmon [https://wikimon.net/images/f/f5/Woodmon.jpg]
"How the hell are we supposed to take these back like that, you morons?" A voice boomed from the direction of the village, as four black and grey quadruped armoured Digimon with a massive horn came into view.
Monochromon [https://wikimon.net/images/thumb/1/16/Monochromon.jpg/320px-Monochromon.jpg]
"Quit your bitching, Monochromon." Woodmon rolled his eyes. "Just get the Greymon and Tyrannomon to put them in a pile. Not sure why you don't just have us do all the finding."
" Because , the village would run out of wood in a week. You three don't even spend any time organizing and are not even close to keeping up with the demand. Maybe if you'd get your other brothers here to help we could afford to do that!"
"Pffft, they're all off with Cherrymon and his crew, doing some religious bullshit."
"You guys have a religion? What is it?" Tavaras asked, keen to learn more about these guys. They all seemed like normal guys; he couldn't imagine them bowing down and praying. Woodmon stifled a laugh.
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"Us? Hell no."
"Apparently Cherrymon was able to wrangle some of his students into some nothing religion." Three large Digimon came out from the other side, carrying branches on each arm. A Tyrannomon and two Greymon. As they threw the wood onto another pile, one of the Greymon, an orange dinosaur with large teeth and blue stripes, cracked his neck.
Greymon [https://wikimon.net/images/6/6c/Greymon.jpg]
Tavaras shrugged his shoulders. Even here there were those who took religion seriously and those who couldn't even care enough to learn its name. He smirked; apart from the giant teeth and claws they weren't so different. His stomach growled; they'd been working since the sun came up.
"So, what's for lunch?" He asked. The first Tyrannomon laughed.
"The human's hungry already?" He grunted as Guardromon "accidentally" bumped into him again.
"I told you yesterday!" Dorumon sighed, exasperated. He held up a finger as if recalling something. "Human's don't store energy like Digimon. Or at least that's what Jijimon told me."
"It's because he's scrawny." Greymon laughed, patting his belly.
"Whatever, tubby." Tavaras said. He turned to Monochromon. "We'll help you haul all this shit back." Now it was the four legged dinosaur's turn to laugh.
"Yeah, right. Don't worry about it; you can just walk alongside us."
As the larger Digimon helped load up the trailers to be pulled by the Monochromon, Tavaras sat on a log next to Dorumon. "This is nice, isn't it?" Dorumon said. Tavaras looked up at him and nodded. Dorumon grinned. "Not everything needs to be done all the time, you know? Sometimes, just taking a moment to breathe brings the world into perspective."
Tavaras laughed. "I didn't know you were so philosophical, Dorumon." The smaller Digimon laughed with him.
"I'm sure I'm not telling you anything you don't already know." Tavaras stopped laughing, lay down on the log and stared up into the trees. The little guy was right, strangely enough. It was advice he'd heard countless times before from his father. Maybe he should try listening to others more often.
—
Edward stood at the window of the room he was staying in, munching on what looked like a carrot. He could never be sure what any of this strange stuff was, but with his only other option being starvation he had begrudgingly relented and ate. Much to his increasingly spare delight, everything tasted exactly what it looked like.
He saw the Digimon passing through the window - this was a safe enough distance for him; he spent as little time as possible outside. Only for meals, and that one time two days ago when that old guy explained all that mumbo jumbo. He grabbed his head in denial - without his signature toque, his hair was a complete mess. Just another thing to worry about.
"Come on Edward, at least socialize with the other humans." Wormmon pleaded from the top bunk. Edward had not forgotten how Wormmon had saved his life from Vilemon, but he couldn't bring himself to be so close to the giant insect.
"Why? Imogen wants nothing to do with me. Tavaras hates me, and I'm pretty sure the other two do too." Edward responded despairingly. "We're gonna be spending enough time together whenever we go to that temple, wherever it is." He didn't need to get to know them any better anyways. Tavaras was a brash and insensitive jackass. Deon was a quiet little nerd. Senna was a ditzy little girl who had no idea what kind of danger she was in.
None of them did. How could they all be around frolicking with these creatures, when any one of them could turn around and attack them? Sure, there were the cute and cuddly ones who were probably harmless, but Tavaras was hanging around with creatures who could swallow them whole. Hell, his own sister was out there hanging around with poison plants and things with weapons built into their bodies .
"Edward, please. You don't want to live like this, I know that. This is a chance to be the man you want to be." Wormmon said. "Stop wallowing in your own self pity."
Edward continued to stare out the window. He saw Tavaras and Dorumon walk by, behind a bunch of large logs being dragged by said giant dinosaurs who could crush him without a second thought. They were laughing with each other like they were old friends. "It's already too late, Wormmon. You heard Imogen just as clearly as I did. She wants nothing to do with me."
"So show her you can change. You can -"
"ENOUGH" Edward shouted, spinning around to a shocked Wormmon. "I am who I am. I'm going to go back to my comfortable life, and leave all this behind me." Tears were starting to form in his eyes. Was that guilt? He couldn't leave all of this behind, after all. His sister would be on the return trip with him. He sniffed and wiped his eyes, and Wormmon stuck his head inside the pillow.
Edward turned back around to stare out the window. It is too late. Isn't it?
—
Imogen laughed as a small baby Digimon bounced on top of her head.
Gummymon [https://wikimon.net/images/thumb/c/cd/Gummymon.jpg/320px-Gummymon.jpg]
It was the first genuine laugh she had in a long time; she was worried about back home, sure, but once Deon had explained to her about the time difference, she was able to lighten up. She took joy in the fact that the three or four days here were barely a few minutes back home. Imogen would have to deal with whatever happened, but for now...
She picked up the small Gummymon and tossed it gently up and down in the palm of her hand, giggling as the little baby did too. She was glad Palmon and Floramon had offered to take her on this little jaunt through the forest. They weren't far from the village, but it was even more peaceful out here. There weren't the loud footsteps of the large Digimon, or the flapping of flying Digimon. A slight breeze whistled through the leaves, blowing around her blonde hair, weathered with the stress of the past few years of her life.
She felt just the gentle kiss of grass beneath her legs, and soft plants around the perimeter of the giant tree she sat against. Imogen felt a small bump on her side. Curious, she turned her head and saw two more Digimon looking at her with big eyes. One green like a weed, and the other pink with a blue flower budding out of it.
Tanemon [https://wikimon.net/images/3/3d/Tanemon.jpg] Yokomon [https://wikimon.net/images/a/a4/Pyocomon.jpg]
"Tanemon. Yokomon. Wait your turn." Palmon admonished the two other baby Digimon. Imogen's heart dropped as tears started to well up in their eyes. It wasn't fair they were so cute. She could put Gummymon down, but it felt so soft in her hands. And besides, those cute little eyes, and the infectious little laugh. No. She couldn't. There's no way she could put that squishy thing down.
"Ohhhh" Imogen moaned. She could juggle them... No. She didn't have the dexterity and hand-eye coordination for that. She remembered one time years ago she was entertaining her youngest two siblings. Imogen had tried to juggle two jawbreakers, and her siblings each tried to grab one. She had fumbled them, and they had landed right onto her sister's head, one after the other with a thud.
She shook her head. No, there would be injuries for sure.
Only one other choice. "It's okay Palmon, they can climb over me if they want." Palmon shrugged as Tanamon and Yokomon's mouths widened in glee, and they scampered up the sleeves of her mother's old jacket. Imogen closed her eyes and winced as one of them jumped from shoulder to the top of her head, and then onto her other shoulder. She never lost her laugh as the green and pink plants screamed with pleasure as they jumped up and down.
A short while later, getting tired and shoulders started to feel uncomfortable, Imogen looked up and to her shock saw the sky darken. "Hmm, is it about to rain?" She asked. "We should probably find shelter." She set Gummymon down and turned to the two others on either shoulder. "Did you guys all have fun?" To that she got three squeals of delight. Imogen smiled. "I'm glad, OK, it looks like it's time to go inside." Imogen got to her feet as the babies groaned, getting off her shoulders.
Not a second after she had gotten up did she hear a distant crash. Suddenly, bells rang loud from inside the village, like a practiced alarm. Imogen turned her gaze deeper into the forest, and her eyes widened with terror. Large balls of ice were crashing down from the sky in the distance, crushing through the dense canopies into the ground. She heard the echoes of crashing ice and wood onto the forest ground below, creeping quickly closer like a rain of encroaching death.
"RUN!"