Chapter 3: An Honest Day’s Work
A few hours later, Van began to have some shortness of breath. “Want me to carry her?” David asked, leaning over. Van shook his head. “No, we’ll need to find somewhere to rest soon though. I might not be as tired as her, but I’m definitely feeling exhausted. If i knew we’d end up in the digital world I’d have slept a bit,” Van finished with a chuckle. “How bout I check ahead for a clearing for us while you rest Van?” Joseph said looking forward. “I might be able to find something.”
“I’ll go with you,” Ben said, gesturing to the digi-egg. “With that if something happens you won’t be able to defend yourself.” Joseph looked defeatedly at his digi-egg before nodding. “No, you’re right. Let’s head out. David, you keep them safe right?”
“Don’t forget we’re here too,” Agumon jumped in pointing to himself and Betamon, though Betamon was looking at Alyss warily. Van gently put Alyss on the ground before sitting next to her. “Just make it quick. Worst case we camp here for the night.” Ben and Joseph walked forward, while David stood tall near Alyss and Van. As Ben and Joseph seemed to get out of earshot, David turned to both Van. “Hey uh… Thanks by the way.” Van just looked confused. “You’re… welcome? I guess?”
“Well its just… Gaossmon and I would’ve been in trouble if not for you. I know Joseph and Ben wanted to get stronger, and since we were friends I wanted to help out. If I had known that these were our partners… Well… Yeah, anyway… That and for saving us from the Guardromon. Is… Is she gonna be okay?” David pointed at Alyss, who had seemingly been out cold for a bit, Betamon sitting in her lap. “She’ll be fine… I think. We’re both fairly exhausted, and are running on basically no sleep. We probably just need some rest somewhere.” David nodded, looking around. “Well, get some rest now. If need be I can carry her where we end up goin-”
“Hey! You won’t believe what we found!” Ben said rushing into the area. David seemed ready to jump and fight until Ben was visible between the trees. “It’s a full on inn! One of those nice Japanese ones you see in Anime, you know? This way,” He said excitedly waving. Van stood up, David holding his hand out. “You didn’t rest much. I’ll get her,” David said kneeling down, sliding his hands under Alyss’s back and knees, lifting her slowly. Betamon seemed to look around in a slight panic before realizing he was being lifted with Alyss. Van shook his head, before stepping slowly towards Ben. “Just know if something happens to her-”
“I’m sure I’ll get the beating of a life. It’s fine.” David just smiled at Van.
As the group moved forward, they soon caught up to Joseph, who stood in front of a tall building, resembling a Japanese Pagoda. On the wall surrounding the building was a sign that said “Forestkeeper Inn.” Joseph stood in the front, talking to a small brown statue with holes for eyes and a mouth, a rope tied around it with green hair sticking from the top. As the group got closer, they could hear the conversation. “I know you only take bits but-”
“If you don’t have bits you can’t stay.”
“I know but we have someone in our group who really needs a bed and-”
“Does this person have bits?”
“Well I don’t-”
“Whats the problem Joseph?” Van said, getting closer. “Well they won’t let us in unless we have bits-”
“No money, no staying.” Van looked at the small creature. “Is… are we able to earn our nights stay?”
“And how do you propose to do that?” The voice came from behind the small creature. A doll like figure hovered out of the building. It looked like a young woman in formal Japanese dress, though the arms were disconnected. “Well, if you need us to work the grounds or anything like that, we’re more than happy to do so.”
“I can help in the kitchen if you need a chef-” added Joseph. The figure looked between everyone, and noticed Alyss being carried. “And her? She isn’t able to help clearly-”
“I’ll do her portion,” David chimed in. “Least till she’s feeling better.” The figure nodded. “Alright fine, but I'm only giving you 2 rooms. No co-ed bunking, and I expect you to be awake at the morning call.” The doll began hovering in, the group following. “My name is Kokeshimon, these Hanimon help me out quite a bit. The groundskeeper is Sunflowmon, and I suspect they’ll be working you quite hard. As for the kitchen, it is manned by a Meramon with very high standards. Don’t upset him though, as it will ruin our food quality.” Kokeshimon gave the brief explanation before finally getting to 2 rooms right next to each other. “Now then, the room on the right is the bigger one, perfect for the men. On the left is the smaller one. I’ll allow the partners to stay with their tamers, since I don’t have to worry about that.”
“Can Agumon also stay in the room with Alyss? Just to give her an extra hand?” Kokeshimon nodded. “That’s fine. I’ll also have a Hanimon in the room to watch over her.” As the doors were slid open, there were folded up futons to the side, and a small table, maybe 2 foot high. David brought Alyss into the room on the left, Joseph headed in to place a futon down for her. As Alyss was placed gently onto the futon, Betamon hopped next to her, resting his head on her arm. Kokeshimon left, a Hanimon hopping into the room shortly after. Van knelt down next to Betamon. “She’ll be fine. You know as well as I do she won’t stay down.” Betamon nodded, his eyes still sad. “I know… Just… She’s not usually out this long…” Van placed a hand on Betamon’s head. “Just keep her company. Agumon will be here with you too.” Betamon nodded as Agumon walked over sitting next to him with a grin. Van stood up, headed out of the room. “Agumon, if she wakes up come let me know okay?” Agumon gave an enthusiastic thumbs up. Van headed to the next room over, where the futons were already being set up. Van sat on one of the futons, taking a deep sigh. “At least we won’t be on the grass floor tonight.”
“I’ll say,” Joseph responded, placing his digi-egg gently on a pillow. “I’d be worried about us doing that without preparations like a tent and such.” Joseph looked around, before turning to Van. “So how long do you think until Kodokugumon hatches again…” Van shook his head, laying back. “Hard to say. Could be soon. Could be days from now.” Joseph nodded somberly. “Well… once he does I’ll take good care of him.”
“That’s the spirit,” David said giving a thumbs up. Ben shook his head looking at his Mushroomon. “Still can’t believe you’re the same Tommy I’ve been raising.”
“Well, believe it buddy. Now we get to go on an adventure together.” Ben smiled at Tommy, giving him a thumbs up. “Damn right buddy.”
As everyone got comfortable, there was a knock on the door. “C’mon in,” Van announced not getting up. The door slid open, to reveal four Hanimon, 3 of which carrying platters of food, the fourth finishing pushing the door open. “Dinner time, per lady Kokeshimon.” The platters had a total of 6 plates, each with nice Salmon dishes, some rice, and even some small cups with a brownish liquid. “Nothing too extravagant, but the Digisalmon dinner which is the cheapest on the menu.”
“Digisalmon?” Ben sniffed the Salmon, cocking an eyebrow. “Smells like normal salmon to me.”
“Haven’t you ever played some of the games?” David asked. “They sometimes just add digi as the prefix to item names,” Van continued. Ben nodded, looking down. “Ah, okay.” Gaossmon and Tommy didn’t waste time beginning to eat. With a shrug, the others began to eat as well. “This is delicious-” Joseph said, eating slowly. Everyone nodded in agreement. Not long after, everyone laid in bed, headed to sleep.
Joseph woke up, hearing the sound of a door opening and closing. Sitting up, he looked around curiously, but noticed everyone in the room was still asleep. He laid his head back down on the pillow and closed his eyes, thinking it could just be someone else in the inn. Joseph then started getting up, and slowly headed to the door. He slid it open, enough that he’d be able to look around, but nobody was in the hall. Stepping out and closing the door, he moved to the next door, where Alyss was sleeping, and opened the door slightly to look in. He saw Betamon and Agumon cuddled up and sleeping, but no sign of Alyss or Hanimon. Joseph closed the door and turned, only to see a Hanimon staring at him. “What are you doing human? Kokeshimon said no co-ed sleeping-”
“Where is my friend?” Hanimon blinked looking up at him. “Is she not there?”
“No, what did you do with her,” Joseph said a bit of anger in his voice. Hanimon continued to blink up at Joseph. “Sir I think you’re confused. You should head back to bed, I’m sure your friend just stepped out for a mo-” The door to the guys room slid open, as David peered into the hall. “Man, why are you being so loud?”
“Alyss is missing-”
“Maybe she just went to the restroom? Or got food, did she even get a dinner?” Hanimon turned side to side. “No, Kokeshimon said since she was unconscious she wouldn’t have been able to enjoy the food. It’s possible Hanimon is bringing her to the kitchen.” David just turned to Joseph. “See man? Let’s get back to bed.”
“Why are you so non-chalant?”
“Why aren’t you worried about her?” David stepped out of the room, and moved to lean over Joseph. Despite their height difference being only a few inches, Joseph felt himself shrinking to David. “These digimon have been nothing but nice to us. They’ve given us rooms and food simply for some labor. She had Agumon and Betamon with her, are they safe?”
“Well yeah but-”
“Then nothing’s happened man,” David said leaning back and smiling. “Trust me, my gut says everything is fine-” As David said that, Alyss turned the corner, holding a plate, piled with sweets. “Oh, hey guys,” Alyss said, seeing them gathered. “See I told you she was…. Wait is that all you’re eating?”
“Well I was told that Meramon is very particular and I don’t want him to come in upset by how messy his kitchen is so I grabbed some cookies and-” Joseph just shook his head, and went back into the room. Alyss watched him confused. “Is… Is he okay? Did something happen?”
“He was just worried about you,” David shrugged. Alyss just cocked an eyebrow and headed into her room. David walked into the guys room, and noticed Joseph sitting up staring at his digi-egg. David sat next to him, staring at the same digi-egg. “Wanna tell me what’s really going on?”
“You gonna lean over me if I say no?”
“Nope. I’d rather you tell me willingly.” Joseph sighed. “Man… We got here and really fucked up. Thinking this was a video game, I convinced you all to just start farming battles as if that’d make our digimon grow, and you just went with it. If not for Van and Alyss we probably would’ve ended up being crushed by a digimon like that Guardromon.” David nodded. “Right, you told me about that… One of the Kokuwamon that got away when we fought them cam back for revenge.”
“Yeah… Kodokugumon gave his life to protect me… Just as I realized he was the one I had been talking to in my bracelet, I lost him.” David placed a hand on Joseph’s back. “You made an honest mistake. You realized it. Kodokugumon will hatch before you know it though. Then you’ll have your friend back. Since he protected you… Well I’m sure you can understand that means he doesn’t really blame you for what happened.” Joseph nodded. “I just… when I saw she was gone, I was worried. I’ve seen a lot of horror movies where people own a hotel and act all nice only to start killing off people one at a time. So when I saw she was gone…” David chuckled. “I think you should talk to her about how you feel on this.” Joseph just cocked an eyebrow. “What do you-”
“Nothin. Nevermind,” David said standing up. “We should get some sleep. We got a hard day’s work tomorrow I’m sure.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Joseph said laying on his futon. “Thanks for talking to me.” David gave him a thumbs up and a smirk. “Always man, we’re friends.” David laid down in his futon, and him and Joseph went to sleep.
The next morning, the guys were awoken by a knock on the sliding door. “Come in-” Van called groggily, sitting up. The door opened, a similar display to the night before, but the plates were covered in pancakes. “Specially made for you all,” one Hanimon said as they brought the plates to the table. Everyone began eating, and Van looked up as he took a bite. “Wait… I know this flavor.” Everyone at the table turned to look at him as he grinned. “Looks like she really did just need a night’s sleep.”
“Wait what do you-”
“These are her pancakes. She saves them especially to celebrate something.” Everyone continued eating, quickly devouring the pancakes. “My compliments to the chef-” David said, nearly falling back after he finished his meal. “Thanks for the compliments,” Alyss said, sliding the door open, a Hanimon holding more pancakes as Agumon and Betamon stood behind her salivating at the pancakes. “I’d have joined sooner but I had to make more pancakes. Apparently a Goburimon smelled them and really wanted me to make some for his crew and his boss. May I join?” Everyone who finished eating moved from the table, as Van stacked up the plates to clear space. Alyss, Agumon, and Betamon moved to the table and began eating. Joseph looked up at her. “Do… do you only eat sweets?” Alyss looked to the side, chewing on a pancake. Van chuckled watching this. “We’re in the digital world,” Alyss responded. “It’s not like I’m going to gain weight from eating sweets.”
“Wait so is that-”
“No,” Alyss interrupted. “I like a few different things. Sweets are good for my brain though. Keeps it running at the capacity it does.”
“What do you mean?” Alyss sighted to Joseph’s question, putting her fork down. “A few years ago I got a disease. While the disease itself only lasted a few days, it damaged my brain a bit. I used to have photographic memory, which I still kind of do. I just… struggle recalling things on some days.”
“That isn’t good… How bad does your memory issue get?”
“Well… i don’t forget things that are relevant to day to day conversation, nor do I forget people's names. But like… Some things feel impossible for me to recall some days.” Everyone just stared in Alyss’s direction. “Sweets make me feel like some of the stuff I can’t get to might be in reach. So I eat a bunch of sugar to keep my brain at a high function.”
“There's no way that’s a thing,” Ben added in, turning to Tommy, who shrugged in response. “Actually,” Joseph cleared his throat. “There is scientific evidence that some sugar can increase brain activity a bit.” He trailed off. “But too much can actually be harmful in the long run.” Alyss took another bite of her Pancake. “I know…”
“I wouldn’t worry too much. She’s been fine this far, she’ll be fine in the future too,” Van said, patting Alyss on the back. Alyss smiled to Van, a bit somberly. “Thanks Van.” While Alyss was eating, there was a knock on the door. “Come in,” Ben said, watching the door. Kokeshimon slid the door open, staring into the room. “Hello everyone. I’m sure you enjoyed your night. It’s time for you to get some work done. Your friend here will be helping out with breakfast,” Kokeshimon said, gesturing to Alyss. “Meramon has been inundated with requests for your pancakes, and he doesn’t have the recipe to keep up.”
“Need another set of hands for the kitchen?” Joseph asked. Alyss simply shrugged, “If nothing else we could use your help in there for dishes.” Everyone stood up, with Alyss and Joseph headed to the kitchen, while the rest followed Kokeshimon outside. Tilling dirt outside was a large green reptile creature, with a sunflower head, and wings that resemble leaves. “Sunflowmon, these are the helpers I told you about.”
“Lets see… 3 humans and 5 digimon? Sure, I can work with that.”
By lunchtime Van, David, Ben, and the digimon returned to their room, throwing themselves into their futons. “Sunflowmon worked us so hard,” Ben said groggily. Van put his hands behind his head getting comfortable. “It could’ve been worse for sure. I wonder what Alyss and Joseph are up to.” A knock interrupted the conversation. “Come in,” David responded, staring at the door. “A hand please?” Alyss’s voice came from behind the door. Van jumped up, headed to the door, sliding it open. Alyss and Joseph sat on the other side, each holding platters full of burgers, grilled cheese, fries, rice, fish and various sweets. “We got permission to bring back a bunch of food,” Joseph added, stepping into the room and placing the food on the table. Ben and David’s mouth watered looking at the table. Alyss grabbed a platter of fish and put it in front of Betamon. “Here you go buddy. I know you love fish so I made sure to bring you some,” Alyss said gently petting Betamon’s head. “So how was the field work?” Alyss asked, picking up a burger for herself. “Exhausting,” Ben responded, grabbing a handful of fries to start devouring. “What about the kitchen? Not so bad I guess?” Joseph began looking off to the side, while Alyss shrugged. “I didn’t mind it, but that’s cause Meramon was very nice. For some reason though he didn’t really care for Joseph. Wouldn’t let him near the stoves.” Joseph shrugged. “Anyway, what’s the plan?” Van said, debating what to grab off the platters. Everyone turned to look at him as he finally picked up a burger. “Like… Are we going to try and stay here an extra night? Or should we be on our way? If we stay another night we’ll need to work more.”
“I was wondering that as well,” Kokeshimon said on the opposite side of the door. The door slid open. “Sorry for the intrusion, but we will need to clear out the room soon for cleaning if you won’t be spending another night.” Everyone turned to look at Alyss as she took a bite from a brownie. “What,” She said curiously. “Well… are you okay? You were completely out cold for some time,” David responded. Alyss sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. “I slept for quite a few hours more than usual. I’m not sure why I was so exhausted, normally I would be fine for some time after a 24 hour stream.”
“I wonder if maybe the attack from Guardromon did something?” Joseph added. “I mean… it was pretty dangerous… that could’ve made it worse.” Alyss shrugs, thinking back on it. “Maybe…”
“Something traumatizing like a human being attacked by a Guardromon could definitely push you to that level of exhaustion,” Kokeshimon stated. “But why wasn’t Van exhausted too? He was attacked too,” Alyss responded, turning to Van. “Maybe because Guardromon wasn’t aiming at me. He targeted you more than myself or Joseph.” Betamon nodded as Van spoke. “Either way, I’m pretty well rested. We can move on if everyone else wants to.” Everyone nodded. “How long are we able to hang out before we have to leave Kokeshimon?” Van said, turning to the matron of the inn. “I can let you rest for about an hour. You did all work very hard today. Also…” Kokeshimon walked over to Alyss. “Can I see your digivice?” Alyss held her digivice out to Kokeshimon, a bit of confusion. Kokeshimon tapped the phone, a ping noise coming from it. As Alyss looked at her phone, there was a new icon in the bottom right, labeled ‘BITS’ and had 1500 under it. “500 was a tip from the Orgemon and Goburimon that are staying here. They were very happy with the Pancakes this morning, as well as your ability to keep up with their orders. The other 1000 is from Meramon, as payment for the pancake recipe.” Alyss smiled, and looked up to Kokeshimon. “Thank you very much.” Kokeshimon gave a light bow. “Thank you very much. Those pancakes will be a mainstay for a long time I’m sure.”
“Hey Kokeshimon,” Alyss said looking down to her phone. “We’re looking for an area with other tamers. A Dokunemon pointed us in this direction, but… Well they aren’t very talkative of a digimon.” The Kokeshimon tapped her chin. “Well, there’s 2 possible areas that come to mind. If you go about 2 days travel west,” Kokeshimon said pointing in one direction, “You’ll come to the village of beginnings. There may be tamers there. Otherwise to the north, I hear that Ranamon has set up an area for humans in her territory, though I’m not sure how long you’ll have to travel” Van tapped his chin. “Whose territory are we in right now?”
“Oh, this is Arbormon’s territory.”
“What does he think about humans?”
“Hmmm…” Kokeshimon said, tapping her chin again. “Arbormon hasn’t been seen in some time. Word is he won’t interact with those in his territory unless they actively start trouble with him, or begin setting fires.”
“What about the village of beginnings,” Alyss chimed in. “Whose territory is that in? Still Arbormon’s?” Kokeshimon shook her head. “That’s Kazemon’s territory. Be wary there.”
“What? Why?”
“Kazemon isn’t the problem. There are a lot of digimon there that dislike humans. Causing any trouble in the village of beginnings… Well, I would say you may want to avoid it as a whole. The guardian of the village is said to be powerful and dangerous, especially if they think you mean harm to the village.” Everyone nodded, looking around. “Thank you very much Kokeshimon. You’ve been very generous,” Alyss said, bowing low. “Please, travel safely. There’s something going on. I’m told there have been more humans than usual lately.”
“More than usual?” David said, looking over Kokeshimon.
“Well… Normally there would maybe be a report of a group or 2 of humans. But I’ve been hearing reports of humans all over the place. Even Ranamon’s territory has been looking for aid to support all the humans that have appeared. And as a word of warning,” Kokeshimon continued. “Do not go to Mercurymon’s or Grottemon’s territories. They are the most ruthless when it comes to humans. The Chessmon empire calls Mercurymon’s territory their home.” Alyss clenched her fist as she heard about the Chessmon. “So… The Chessmon have the same opinion as Mercurymon?” Kokeshimon nodded. “Unfortunately yes. If the Chessmon see you, I have no doubt they’ll do everything they can to eradicate you.” Alyss sighed nodding her head. “I understand. Thank you Kokeshimon.”
The rest of the meal was eaten fairly quietly. David and Ben made small talk about the yard work they did, but Alyss didn’t say much. As the food was finished, Van moved next to Alyss. “You’ve got that worried look on your face.”
“You were right.” Van nodded, looking over at Alyss with a bit confusion, “About?”
“Some digimon won’t be as accepting of humans, and will require making those hard decisions to fight till the end.” Van placed his hand on Alyss’s shoulder. “You need to loosen up. I’m sure there’ll be a lot of digimon that we can convince not to fight us, or at least to surrender. Like those Pawn Chessmon ran away.” Alyss sighed. “I just hope it's more often than not. If we can avoid having to make those tough decisions I think we’ll be okay-”
“It’s hatching!” Joseph interrupted excitedly, as he jumped towards his digi-egg. The Digi-egg rocked, before finally beginning to crack. A light engulfed the room for a moment, a small green slime with a silver pacifier and big black eyes sat where the egg was. “Oh a Pabumon,” Alyss chimed in. “I didn’t know Kodokugumon came from a Pabumon… I guess it makes sense, Motimon is one of the main bug in-training digimon-” Alyss began stating, as everyone turned to her. “Sorry,”
“Man, they said you were a digimon encyclopedia, but I did not believe it,” David said, smirking. “It’s good to know someone in our group is going to have the information we could use.” Alyss shook her head. “Don’t forget, while knowing what kind of attacks a digimon might have, and it’s evolutionary lines might help, their mannerisms can change digimon to digimon. The Orgemon here is a great example, he’s actually super kind and respectful, nothing like the Orgemon we see in digimon media back home.” David simply shrugged, standing up and brushing his shirt off. “Hey, some knowledge is better than no knowledge, right?” He said, smirking at Alyss. She nodded and sighed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Van jumped to his feet. “We about ready to head on?” Everyone nodded, standing up. Van headed to the door, and beckoned for a Hanimon. “Where should we put the dishes?”
“Just leave them, we’ll get them while cleaning. Thank you for asking,” Hanimon said, bowing softly. Van just nodded, “sounds good to me.”
As everyone walked to the front of the building, stepping out, Kokeshimon rushed to the front door of the Pagoda. “Thank you for your stay. I hope to see you again in the future,” She said, bowing her head, followed by a few Hanimon. Everyone waved back at them as they headed out, walking into the forest. “Let’s go. I think the village of beginnings might be a good place to stop. Even if some wind digimon may try to attack us, I’d rather get a chance to meet any tamers that might be at the village on our way north.”
“And you’re sure on which way is North,” Van said watching Alyss begin taking steps. “Well she pointed this way-”
“That way,” Van said, pointing to the left of Alyss. “I knew that, I was… testing you.”
“I thought your sense of direction was better when you aren’t gaming,” Betamon asked looking up at Alyss. “Well… maybe being in the digital world is messing with me,” Alyss responded smiling.”She seems to be in a good mood,” David said, turning to Joseph. Joseph simply shrugged, “Don’t look at me. I didn’t do anything,” he replied. Walking into the forest, the group continued their journey.
