Chapter 7:
The Underground Caverns
The sun beat down upon the bone-dry desert and the traveling group. They had been walking nonstop since leaving the Valley of Relics, but there was nothing in sight. Even worse, as the temperature rose, so did the tempers.
"It's so hot..." Mana wailed, "Can we please rest and find some shade? My feet hurt!"
Seita sighed. Mana had been like this for the whole time.
"No, Mana, I don't think we can," he replied, irritated, "There’s no shade anywhere, and even if there was, the ground's so hot we wouldn't be able to sit!"
"I think Mana's right,” Tian said impatiently, "Everyone's tired! We need to stop and rest."
"I’m thirsty…" Kei murmured. "Mana, is there water in your bag?"
"Yeah..." Mana dug in her bag and pulled out some water bottles. Empty ones. "Huh? What happened?" Mana looked incredulous. "I swear I filled these up before we left!"
"It's so hot out here, the water probably evaporated..." Salamon murmured.
"Great..." Seita muttered, "Another problem to add to our list!"
"Don't worry," Gazimon said, "When we find that village, we can get some more!"
"If we do. There's nothing here! We might as well be walking in this desert forever!"
Akira glanced at Seita, puzzled. Why is he being like this? she thought.
She sighed. "Okay. We'll keep walking until sunset. We'll be able to rest then because it'll be cooler.”
Jun spoke up, "I don't know..." He looked up at the sky and back at them, puzzled. "I've been thinking..."
"What is it?"
"Well… We've been here for hours, and the sun hasn't even moved. It's still in the same spot in the sky, as if it were noontime. Does the sun ever even set in a place like this?"
Akira frowned. "There might not even be a night in this place..."
"If that's the case," Kodamon replied, "we must be in the Desert of the Eternal Sun. Here, the sun never sets. And it'll always be hot."
Seita was enraged now. "You just had to mention that, didn't you!" he shouted at Jun, "Even if we found someplace to rest, it wouldn't help us much because it's too hot and we don't have any water!"
"At least someone mentioned it soon enough!" Jun shouted back, "It would have been worse later, when everyone else would have noticed!"
"Hey! Calm down!" Akira stood between the two boys. "Seita, Jun's right. What would have happened if we didn't know all that? I know we're in trouble, but screaming about it won't make things better." She looked at him intensely.
Seita glared at her, then sighed and turned to Jun. "I'm sorry... I was just frustrated, that's all..."
Jun looked away. "That's okay..."
Just then, a small black spot flashed through the sky. Its points glittering in the sun, it descended, gathering speed...
Something clicked in Yuka's mind. She gasped and looked around wildly.
"What is it, Yuka?" Lopmon asked nervously.
"I... don't know," she whispered, "I felt something strange pass by." Like last time, only now it feels worse...
Suddenly, the black gear zoomed down and slammed though the desert floor behind the kids.
Mana screamed. "What was that?" she wailed.
No one saw the gear crash, but they felt it. The impact created large cracks and the ground began to shake.
"Earthquake!"
Then, the ground right under them split. Everyone screamed as they fell through the crack and landed on solid ground.
"Oohh..." Akira sat up groggily. "What happened?" Then a muffled yell erupted from under her. "Huh? Oh!" She jumped up. "Are you okay? Say something!" She had landed right on top of Kodamon!
"I'm okay, don't worry..." Kodamon replied woozily. "Is everyone else okay?"
Mana looked around her. "How did we get here?"
"Simple. The earthquake created a hole under us, making us fall into an underground cave." Jun looked up at a tiny, coin-sized patch of light. "And we can’t get back up."
"I can fly up!" Patamon flapped his ears and floated upward.
Jun made a face. "Yeah, but that's you. What about us?"
Akira looked at a dark corner of the cave. "Well, if we can't get back up, we can just keep going through there." She pointed toward an opening.
"Okay, great!" Kodamon started running toward it.
"Hey, wait!" Akira ran after her. Everyone else looked at each other in bewilderment.
"Oh, come on! It's better than roasting to death up there!" Kei replied.
They walked until they came to a fork in the path ahead.
Seita looked to the left, then the right. "Now which path do we take?" he said, frustrated. Jun glanced at him.
Akira slowly walked toward the two paths, a thoughtful look in her eyes. She pulled out her Digivice, while Kodamon looked at her, puzzled.
"Akira? What are you doing?" When she saw the Digivice, an understanding look appeared on her face. Everyone fell silent as Akira held out the Digivice in front of her and pointed it toward each path. When the Digivice reached the right-side path, it started beeping and glowing brightly. Akira smiled.
"Okay. We go this way!" She started walking toward the right-hand path when Seita grabbed her shoulder.
"Wait a second! What do you mean 'we go this way?' How do you know? Is that Digivice a compass or something? How did you know how to use it when we only got them a day ago? Is there something you're not telling us?" Seita looked at her sternly.
Akira stepped back. An icy tingle filled her. He's right... she realized, How did I know how to use that? I wasn't even thinking when I made it glow!
She swallowed, and replied, "I thought it would help. It has something to do with Digimon, right? So I thought that if I tried to use it to find our way, it would detect other Digimon around, and maybe they would help us!"
Her answer seemed good enough for Seita. "All right," he mumbled, "let's get going." They walked on. Jun and Patamon lagged behind with Tian and the two younger girls.
"Jun?" Patamon looked at him, "What is it? Are you still mad at Seita for what happened earlier?"
"No... not really... well, maybe a little."
"Don't worry about it," Tian said, "I don't think he meant it."
Later, the group was still walking and there was no sign of anything.
"Can we stop to rest?" Mana said, "I'm really getting tired!"
"Here we go again..." Seita replied. Mana glared at him and stuck out her tongue.
"Yeah, can we?" Kei replied, sitting down and leaning against Yuka and Terriermon.
"Sure. We should get some sleep. It's been a long day." Akira sat down against a wall and closed her eyes. Seita flopped down and looked around quietly as everyone else nodded off to sleep. Gazimon snuggled up against him.
A while later, when everyone else was fast asleep, Seita decided he had waited enough and got up, jolting Gazimon awake.
"Come on, Gazimon, let's go before we wake up everyone else!" Seita sounded nervous.
"Where are we going?" Gazimon yawned.
"Away for a while. I can't stand everyone right now. We'll come back, I promise, but right now, I just want to be alone."
Gazimon gave him a funny look, but followed him anyway. They tiptoed away, and hesitated when they walked past Yuka and Kei. Seita thought he saw Kei stir, but shook his head and kept on going.
They kept walking until they came across another fork in the tunnel, this time in three directions.
"Hmm..." Gazimon mused, "Do you want to try that trick Akira did with her Digivice?"
Seita shook his head. He closed his eyes and folded his arms. "You know, I really don't like it when she does stuff like that, acting like she knows what she's doing. All the stuff she's done since we got here – knowing what to do to beat that first Digimon we fought, and doing that trick with the Digivice. Even Kodamon, she knows a lot more about everything than you or the others. They're hiding something, I know it!”
Gazimon wasn't sure what to say. "Umm... well…" He laughed hastily. "Anyway, which path do we take?"
Seita smiled at him. "The one straight ahead. The shortest distance between two points is always a straight line!" He took Gazimon's hand, and they walked through the middle path. But they didn't see the small shadows that followed them...
A while later, the tunnel got brighter.
Seita smiled. "All right! I think we've found the exit! Come on, let's go!"
Gazimon stayed put. "Aren't we going back to tell the others?"
"It's okay! We'll just look, and then we'll go back." They both walked toward the light when they heard soft thumps behind them.
"Huh?" Seita glanced back. There was nothing there, except for a large rock. Whispers came from it. "Someone's been following us!"
"Don't worry, I'll take care of 'em!" Gazimon clenched his fists and jumped over the rock. "Hyaaaa!"
Loud screams erupted from behind the rock, startling Gazimon.
"Eh? Whoa!" Gazimon lost his balance and fell, bumping his head.
Seita looked behind the rock and sighed. "I should have known it was you!" Sure enough, it was Kei sitting behind it, Terriermon in her arms. Seita shook his head. "Kei... what are you doing here? I thought you were asleep!"
"I was asleep. Until you two walked away. Terriermon woke me up after you left!"
Terriermon giggled and shook his ears. "With my big ears, how could I not hear you leave?"
Kei added, "I wanted to know where you were going!"
"We were just going for a walk!"
"Some walk!"
Seita groaned.
Kei glared at him. "I followed you for a good reason. I wanted to make sure you weren't ditching us!"
"I was not!"
She laughed. "Okay! Oh, and just so you know, right now would be the perfect time to get out of here. We saw a bunch of Digimon sneaking around while we were following you. You didn't seem to notice them, and we knocked out a lot before they got to you."
Seita was dumbfounded. "Huh? Wha–? How–?"
"Of course, that just made them mad, and they're probably coming after us right now!" As if to back up her statement, loud yells filled the tunnel.
Seita grabbed Kei's hand and ran toward the light. "Why didn't you tell us sooner?" he yelled.
"Hey, It's not my fault! You made me forget! And we wouldn't have this problem if you two had noticed and watched your backs!"
"You must really love annoying people like this, huh?"
"That's my job!" Kei replied, smiling.
They reached the lighted area and entered a huge cavern. It was a beautiful ice-blue color, with piles of diamond and crystal rocks strewn about.
"Wow..." Terriermon whispered, "What is this place?"
"Whatever it is, it's pretty!" Kei answered.
Just then, a bunch of Gotsumon jumped out from behind the crystals.
"Whoa!" Kei started running away, but looked around. "Uh oh..." They were surrounded!
Gazimon walked up to some of the Gotsumon, a sly smile on his face. His paws charged up with energy…
Meanwhile, Akira was jolted awake by someone shaking her roughly. She yawned and looked up at Yuka's face.
"Yuka...? What is it? You should get some more sleep..." She rubbed her eyes.
"I can't. Something's wrong." Yuka looked very disturbed.
"What?"
"I'm not sure, but it doesn't feel right." She pointed in the direction they came in, which was shrouded in darkness. "It came from over there."
"Do you want me to check on it?"
Yuka nodded.
"All right." Akira got up and shook Kodamon. "Come on, get up."
"Wha–what is it?"
"We don't know yet."
Tian and Renamon were already there, since Yuka woke them up first. Akira walked up to them.
"What’s going on?" she asked. Tian shook her head.
"I don't know. I don't see anything strange."
"But there seems to be some strange presence here..." Renamon murmured.
"A Digimon?"
"Could be."
Lopmon jumped up and flew toward the darkness. "I'll go find out!"
"Be careful!" Yuka looked on fearfully as Lopmon disappeared in the shadows.
"Oh, and something else," Tian told Akira, "Seita and Kei are gone."
Akira stared back at her. "Gone? Where?"
"I'm thinking that Seita went for a walk. You know how he was earlier, and–"
Akira finished her thought. "And Kei, being curious as she is, followed him. I think they'll be okay. Kei won’t get hurt if Seita’s with her."
Suddenly, a scream rang out from the darkness.
"Lopmon!" Yuka shouted. Lopmon appeared, falling through the air as if she had been hit. An evil cackle echoed through the tunnel, and a large form appeared from the shadows.
Yuka scooped Lopmon in her arms and hid behind Tian. Akira pulled out her Digivice and looked at Kodamon.
Kodamon nodded. "Gotcha!" She began to glow brightly...
"Whew," Gazimon sat down and stretched, "That was a workout!" He and Terriermon had managed to knock out all of the Gotsumon.
"Tell me about it," Terriermon replied, sinking into Kei's arms.
Kei looked at the diamond and crystal piles. "What's so important about this place that these Digimon would attack us?"
"Beats me," Seita replied, "Maybe because it's a mine or a power source they were trying to protect."
Just then, everything started shaking, and what sounded like shots were being fired in the tunnel they came out of.
"Huh? What's that?" Kei asked, "I thought we beat them all!"
Then, an Ogremon jumped out of the tunnel, with Renamon and Kodiamon firing shots at him. Akira and Tian tumbled out after them, breathing heavily.
Seita stared at them. "What happened? Where's everyone else?"
"Jun and Mana stayed behind with Yuka," Akira said wearily. "Their Digimon got knocked out. We were the only ones able to chase him..."
Kei looked at Renamon and Kodiamon's battle, then looked at Terriermon. "Don't even think about it. You're still too weak from last time!"
"But they can't fight much longer!" Sure enough, the two Digimon were tiring, and Ogremon was unfazed.
"I'll go help them out!" Gazimon ran toward them, but Seita tackled him and held him down.
"Are you crazy? You're still weak!" Then, Ogremon knocked Kodiamon and Renamon away, and they didn't get up. Kodiamon shined briefly and turned back into Kodamon.
"Let me go!" Gazimon wrestled away from Seita, jumped at Ogremon, and got knocked away.
"Hey! Cut it out!" Seita tried to tackle Ogremon, but tripped. Ogremon loomed over him with his club…
Then a brilliant blue light flashed from Seita's Digivice. It beeped repeatedly, and Gazimon's small form glowed and grew larger.
"Gazimon, evolve to... Leomon!"
The bright light dissipated, revealing Leomon, the legendary lion Digimon. Leomon unsheathed his sword and swiped away Ogremon's bone club. "If you want a fight," Leomon growled, "make it fair. Never attack anyone when they're down!" Seita stared at him in awe.
Suddenly, Ogremon leaped at Leomon, snarling. Leomon jumped away and clenched his large fist. "Fist of the Beast King!" The powerful attack smacked into Ogremon head-on, hurling a small Black Gear out of his back. It zoomed into the air and deleted itself when it hit the ground.
Leomon's form shined, then shrinked into Gazimon again. Seita walked over to him and ruffled the fur on his head.
"Thanks a lot," Seita said with a smile.
"Aw, it was nothing!" Gazimon smiled back.
Then, everyone started talking at once. The others had entered the cavern during Leomon's battle and watched the whole thing. When everything quieted down, Seita spoke up.
"Everyone... I'm sorry for how I've been acting. I just get like that when I'm frustrated."
"So does that mean we can just shut you up the next time?" Kei said with a mischievous smile. Seita shot her a look, then laughed with everyone else.
Mana looked around the ice-blue cavern. "This is a pretty place!" she said excitedly, "But how are we going to get out?" She stared at the spot where Ogremon was lying, then shrieked as he slowly got up.
"Ohh... Ah! Hello there! Who are you?" he said in confusion. Everyone started talking again. Ogremon actually wasn't bad, but he couldn't remember what happened when he was in a rage. He even blasted a small hole in the ceiling of the cavern so they could get out easily. When everyone finally got out of the crazy underground maze, they waved goodbye.
Ogremon waved back. "Goodbye! I hope you find what you're looking for!"
Akira sighed. "So... what do we do next? Should we keep going?"
"Might as well," Kodamon replied, "There's no point in going back, right?"
Akira looked back toward the group. "Seita?" He looked at her and their eyes met.
"Let's keep going," he said, determined. "If it gets too hot, we can always blow a hole in the ground and go under!" Everyone laughed.
"Ok! We're going on!" Akira said cheerfully.
Yuka lagged behind the others, cradling Lopmon in her arms. A worried expression crossed her face.
This feeling... It's getting closer and closer... It's scaring me...
She looked behind her and saw only a sea of hot sand. She shivered.
I wish that whatever's following us would go away and leave us alone!