Chapter 5
The next morning came too soon, at least in the
girls’ opinion.
Casey stretched, back popping back into alignment as Agumon
leaned into her hip tiredly. Rocky yawned widely in unison with Patamon,
letting out a tired giggle when Jack bopped her nose with the end of his crook.
Not far behind them was Kim, who, while apparently unaffected by the early hour
or their antics, could not quite hide the glances she sent towards her sister
and the winter spirit every now and then. Faye was energetic as always, Gomamon
laughing from his perch on her shoulder as she bounced into the massive dining
room with an enthusiastic greeting.
Ma only rolled her eyes at this behavior,
holding a sleepy Biyomon to her chest like a small child, though Tooth
fluttered in beside her with a giggle. Bee shuffled in quietly, holding
Tentomon’s claw-hand as she rubbed her eyes, and North followed, laughing as
the multi-colored teenager threw an arm around a disgruntled Kim.
The last to
enter were Ally and Sandy, the former giggling as the dream-bringer told an
elaborate story with his images.
As the large group sat around the massive
circular table, the yeti rushing to serve them, a pattern formed. Kim sat on
Casey’s left, Gabumon pulled onto her lap, and Rocky sat on her sister’s other
side with Jack, already munching on some waffles and laughing as the winter
spirit made little animals out of magic for Patamon to play with between bites.
Ma was next, Biyomon picking at the assortment of fruits before them as Tooth
chattered with her and her mini-fairies. One of the little hummingbird-like
creatures apparently took a liking to the brunette and her bird Digimon,
perched on her shoulder and watching everything with unique bright pink eyes.
Ally was on the other side, telling a story of her own to Sandy and laughing
with him like they were old friends, Palmon munching on maple syrup-coated
strawberries in her lap.
Ignoring her own plate, Faye happily jumped onto one
of the yeti with a shout of “KITTY!” and refused to let go.
Resigned to his fate, since North only laughed at the poor creature’s predicament, the yeti went about his duties with a new tagalong clinging to him like a koala cub.
Bee, though still painfully shy and quiet, let
out a giggle as the older girl went off on a tangent to the reluctantly-amused
yeti that she had named ‘Pookie’ because “You’re like that teddy Garfield has
in the comics, and he’s adorable, and you’re adorable, so it works!”
Apparently
glad that the smaller brunette was starting to relax, the large Russian started
a rather one-sided conversation about new toy designs, heartened by the wonder
in her eyes as she learned about a train that transformed into a rocket and a
car that hovered just off the ground.
It seemed that everyone had made friends
with someone, and that put Casey at ease.
Bunny sat on her right, doing his
best to seem nonchalant while his nose twitched, taking in her scent as
everyone dug in to the breakfast.
“Jack?” Rocky voiced, curious as Patamon
settled down to eat an apple. “When can we go home?”
Every Guardian nearly
flinched at the innocent question, since it seemed all of the girls were
wondering the same thing.
Unfortunately for Jack, he was stuck answering at the
moment.
“Well, it’s not really safe right now, squirt…”
Oh, but he was melting
under those big blue eyes like snow in springtime, and all the Guardians could
tell.
“But maybe you could go back, just to pick up some stuff. How does that
sound?”
Even though the thought made Rocky happy, it was a bit more worrisome
for the older girls.
What if another Digimon attacked them?
Would someone get
hurt?
Casey spoke up, hoping to ease the concerns and not dampen Rocky’s mood
again.
“We don’t all have to go, if we’re just picking up clothes and things.”
She offered, seeing the Guardians relax. “It would just take me, Kim and Ma to
get everything.”
“Should not go by yourselves.” North warned.
“I’ll go!” Tooth
voiced excitedly, smiling sheepishly in embarrassment at the knowing looks some
of her peers were sporting.
“Should be fun.” Jack agreed, leaning back casually
in his chair. “I’m in.”
Just the thought of leaving the pretty redhead in the
winter spirit’s care had Bunny on-edge.
If he had known the real reason Jack
wanted to go, the Pooka would have had no reason to worry.
“Can’t let the
drongo go and make a mess of it.” The Pooka grumbled, trying not to seem eager.
“Good! It is settled!” North boomed, grinning. “Should make lists of things to
get, so nothing is forgotten.”
Sandy threw up a handful of symbols, almost too
fast to decipher.
“He’s right.” Ally agreed, having apparently kept up. “What
about our parents and grandparents? What are we going to tell them?”
Casey and
Ma were silent a moment before turning to Kim expectantly.
Seeing this, she
sighed.
“We decided to have a sleepover at Faye’s home, since her cousin is out of town on business and she is lonely. It was such a spur of the moment decision that we did not go home to secure clothes or toiletries, since there are spares in her room from the time before. We are planning on staying for most of the week, to make sure she is alright, and so will need to bring computers, chargers, and other necessities. They can contact us by cell phone, but not during school hours or after, because of our extracurricular activities.”
There was a beat of silence, and Jack could not
help but be impressed by her flawless lie.
“It will give us at least a week.”
Kim calculated, pupils shifting as the variables were crunched down. “The
school will contact our legal guardians after a few days for skipping, but if
we are careful, no one will know we are gone until Faye’s cousin comes home
from his business trip on the weekend.”
“They’ll worry…” Ally voiced, guilty.
“It can not be helped.” Kim replied, neutral.
A heavy silence fell over the
girls; there was no denying that this was the only course of action they could
take.
“What’s with all the long faces?” Faye piped up, grinning widely from
Pookie’s shoulder. “We’re in the North Pole! There’s no time to be sad!”
Rocky
laughed at the teenager’s exuberance, and the tension cracked.
“Is right!”
North agreed, glad that the gloom was gone. “Can have fun today, and worry
about such things tomorrow!”
Not one person argued with him, and the Guardians
were relieved.
They did not want to think of the families, the mothers and
fathers and grandparents, who would never understand why their children were
gone.
As everyone finished eating and began to splinter off, looking for distractions, no one wanted to admit how hard this was all going to be.
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The image disappeared into black smoke, it’s observer watching the tendrils dissipate into the shadows before turning towards his partner.“They will
become a problem soon.”
“I agree.” The larger form replied, red eyes glowing in
the dim candlelight. “If left alone, they will likely reach the next stage.”
Large black bat’s wings flared out, the rush of displaced air causing the
candle’s to flicker.
“Then we will just have to get rid of them first, won’t we
Devimon?”
The Digimon smirked in agreement.
“I can think of a better way.”
Both
looked towards a solid shadow in the cave, amber eyes visible and striking
amidst the shadows.
“Would you like the honors?”
A smile full of sharp teeth
and dark intentions, and Pitch chuckled as he went over the possibilities.
“It
would be my pleasure.”