Author's Notes: Konnichi wa, minna-san! Since this is my very first fanfic (for anything, not just Digimon), please don't be too hard on me. I'll try to make sure none of the characters are OOC (Out Of Character) or anything like that, but if you notice ANY slip-ups - character, plotline, grammer, spelling, etc. - I'd appreciate it if you'd let me know. Keep in mind, though, that if I happen to like something the way it is, I might not change it. Maybe. Anyway,this story definitely takes place after "Sora's Crest of Love", but before the next episode; too bad I forgot the name of it...^^; Oh yes, standard disclaimers apply, as always. Digimon is owned by Bandai or whatever; I own nothing, save for a few characters I made up along the way, and the story idea. If for some bizarre reason you'd like to use the things I made up in your own story, please ask me first. (Not that anyone would actually want to use 'em, of course.) So, read on, and please please PLEASE let me know what you think of it! akia_starfrost@yahoo.com
Prologue
Pure white drops of crystal spiraled gently down through the tree branches, glistening softly in the dim light of a gray dawn. In steadily increasing numbers they landed gracefully on the trees, the ground, anything that got in their path of descent, adding to the already substantial blanket of white. Tai shivered slightly as a frosty gust of wind blew across his bare arms and legs, and part of his mind wondered when it had gotten cold enough to snow. He hoped it wouldn't get much colder. The cold didn't really bother him, but he knew the others were less tolerant, especially Mimi, and even Tai had his limits.
No one else was awake yet, as far as he knew. He'd gotten stuck with the last watch of the night, so he'd been up for an hour or two already. He could just barely make out the sun behind that thick mass of dark silver clouds, and from what he could tell it had a ways to go yet before it cleared the horizon. The others could sleep for another hour or two at least, he decided. He was quite aware of how tired everyone was, especially after all that walking yesterday.
Yawning hugely, he stretched cramped limbs, careful to not lose his balance. The branch he lounged on was more than thick enough to support his weight, but even so it was slick with snow, and maybe a bit of ice. He wasn't worried about falling; it was well worth the view. And besides, he'd climbed quite a few trees as of late, snow and ice or no, to be able to see where they were, and hopefully figure out where they should be going. It was impossible to see much from the ground; the pine trees were densely packed all around. They'd been lost in this forest for much longer than was healthy for group morale, but there seemed to be no end to it. Even from the vantage point of where he sat, all he could see was more trees, and to the north a cluster of mountains crouched low against the horizon. At the moment, that was where they were heading, since it was the only visible landmark besides the forest. Still, it was pretty far away.
A flash of black against pure white off to his left caught Tai's attention. He quickly dug his mini-telescope out of his pocket, and leveled it in the direction he thought the flash to have been in. At first he saw nothing more than snowflakes drifting across his vision, and with all the trees, it was hard to make out much of anything anyway. Before long, though, another flash of darkness made itself known, darting between the tall pines like black lightening streaking across a noon-day sky. It was gone almost as soon as it had appeared. With a puzzled frown, Tai lowered the telescope and waited for another glimpse of the mysterious shadow, but after several long moments, he relunctantly put away his telescope. Whatever it had been, it was gone now, apparently. He knew he couldn't have imagined it. It had to have been there...
"Hey, Tai!"
Startled, Tai almost toppled out of his tree. "Huh?" Looking down, he saw Agumon looking up at him, a slight hint of annoyance on the orange dinosaur-esque features. "What?"
"Aren't we supposed to be keeping watch?"
"I am." Tai grinned at his digimon. "I'll be able to see something coming from a mile away up here!" His grin slipped momentarily as thoughts of the strange shadow danced across his mind, but he pushed them away for the moment. Time enough to worry about that later, if it became a threat. He spared a glance for the sleeping group below him, and saw that some of them were beginning to stir, probably woken up by the slightly-too-loud exchange between digimon and digi-destined. "May as well wake 'em all up, I guess."
Tai picked his way carefully down the tree, keeping the direction of the mountains in mind. Several feet from the ground, he felt his foot slip on an icy branch, and gave a sharp cry as he plummeted the rest of the way to the snow-covered ground to land roughly on his rear end. "Oww..." He stood up a bit stiffly, rubbing his sore posterior and wishing the snow offered a bit more cushioning, and scowled at his snickering digimon companion. "Not a word, pal."
Rousing his friends turned out to be more of a chore than he bargained for. Of those who had begun to stir, only Matt was truly awake, but if he had seen Tai's little performance, he made no comment. Tai assumed he hadn't seen it. It wasn't like Matt to pass up such a golden opportunity to make a wise-ass remark. Either way, he was grateful Matt kept silent, except to help him wake everyone up.
Mimi, naturally, was the hardest to get up. For a self-proclaimed princess, she sure slept like a rock, Tai thought with a wry grin as he watched her toss about and mumble in her sleep. After several tries, he decided to go with the easy wake-up method. Lacking a sufficient amount of water, however, he improvised.
"WAKE UP!!"
With an ear-splitting shriek and flailing arms that Tai narrowly avoided, Mimi sat up abruptly, breathing hard. Eyes locking on the laughing boy next to her, she grabbed the collar of his shirt with two fists and pulled his face close to hers. Light brown eyes glared furiously into suddenly nervous hazel ones. "You idiot! I was having the greatest dream! I was a real princess, with lots of servants and food and fancy clothes and jewelry and a hot bath, and a really handsome prince," she blushed, as though realizing she'd let more slip than she intended, "and then you nearly give me a heart attack right before he-" She broke off as her face turned a shade redder, and gave Tai an angry shake to cover it up. "DON'T EVER DO THAT AGAIN!!"
Tai nodded weakly, and Mimi released her death grip on him. He quickly stumbled away from the visibly fuming girl, nearly tripping over Matt in his haste. Ignoring the smug look on his blonde friend's face, he said, "Next time, you wake her up." Matt just laughed.
After a small breakfast of berries and a few roots the digimon scavenged, the group of digi-destined set off into the woods, with the digimon at their side, and Tai leading the way. Scarcely a word was exchanged as they trudged deeper into the snow-laden pine forest.
To be continued, of course...
Edited by Nexis Starfrost. Many thanks, sis! ^-~
I firmly believe that all characters are created equal. ^^ No character bashing will take place in my fic, but I will portray them as their personalities indicate. So, I hope no one thought I was trying to bash their favorite character. ^-^
