Chapter Thirty-Five: Keep Your Chin Up

Something tickled his nose, flicking back and forth and then he heard little scratching sounds. Slowly, Taran opened his eyes and saw a big fluffy brown thing on his face. He felt his heart thud hard against his chest and his mind race as he wondered what it was. Whatever it was flew through the air as he sat bolt upright. A bear? No, too small. His eyes skimmed over it as it shot across the forest floor like a lightning bolt. A squirrel. He breathed a sigh of relief as it scurried up into the trees, leaving behind the nut it had been holding. Taran looked around for Matt or Hououmon but neither were there. They had left him. Pumon was still sleeping soundly on the floor and the fire was just embers now—little charred remnants of the roaring flames from the night before. He rubbed his head, the bright light shining through the gaps in the branches an unwelcome visitor to his spinning head. Covering his eyes from the sun as he looked up into the sky, he watched a bird fly overhead. Everything that had happened kept replaying in his mind, in fact it had been all he had dreamt about. It all culminated in the current situation; he was alone somewhere strange and had no idea how to get home. Sure, he was lonely now, but he had to keep his chin up and keep moving until he got home.

“Taran?” Pumon groaned, opening one eye. “You okay?”
Taran nodded. He was lying, of course. The question had broken what little strength he had managed to muster as he was forced to face the situation he was in. And then shook his head. “No.”
Pumon opened the other eye. “What’s wrong?”
“We’re alone…” Taran looked around, as if to confirm it and then stood up. “I don’t know what to do.”
Pumon bounced up and over to Taran. “We keep going, of course!”
“Going where?” Taran chewed on his pyjama sleeve, a nervous tick of his.
Pumon looked around and then began to bound off. “This way will be fun. Come on!”
Taran rushed after Pumon. “Don’t leave me behind!”

“Pumon, not so fast! I don’t have any shoes!” Taran called as he rushed after his hyper friend.
Pumon turned mid-bounce and asked, “Shoes?” He stopped still on the ground and Taran nearly ran straight into him.
“Yeah, the things I put on my feet.” Taran looked down at the torn and dirty soles of his feetie pyjamas. “Oh!” Taran exclaimed. He slung the backpack off his back and onto the ground. “Maybe there’s some in here.”
“Why do you need them?” Pumon bounced into the air, looking down into the backpack as Taran flipped the brown flap open. “I don’t have any.”
“So my feet don’t get hurt.” Taran smirked as he looked at Pumon. “You haven’t got feet, silly, so you don’t need them.” He looked back down, grinning as he spotted some white trainers. “Got some!” He pulled them out and then slipped them on but quickly realised a flaw.
“We can go now?” Pumon asked, turning back around.
“Wait!” Taran looked down at the shoes. “I can’t tie my laces.”
Pumon bounced around and looked at his shoes. “I could bite them off.” He opened his mouth wide, his teeth glinting brightly.
“No!” Taran held up a hand. “I’ll tuck them in until a grown-up does them for me.” He pulled the laces tight and then tucked them into the side of his feet. It was a bit uncomfortable but he was quite proud of his problem-solving skills. “Okay, let’s go!”
“Alright!”

As they reached the edge of the forest, Taran stopped and looked out from the hill they stood atop. A small town with a few people going about their business was ahead. They mostly wore plain clothing and were slim. No one seemed to be overtly happy either. A girl was sat with her mother sewing something in front of one of the small wooden houses. Didn’t she want to play? Fields full of flowers and butterflies flanked the town on either side; they looked like they would be fun to run through but no one seemed to be doing it. Seeing this was very different to how he remembered the people in his home town of Acquina during the day.

“Why don’t we go down and say hi?” Pumon began to bounce down the hill towards the town.
“Wait, Pumon!” Taran sighed and ran after his partner. What if they were scary? Or if they knew Mr and Mrs Adené? Pain in his back stopped him and Taran slowed to a walk, rushing still after Pumon.

Pumon bounced up to a boy who was picking potatoes from the fields on the edge of town. “Hi, I’m Pumon!”
The boy, with blond hair that was matted with sweat and dirt looked a little taken aback. “Hallo, Ich heisse Alrik. Du bist ein Digimon? Freunde oder Feind?” He knelt down, putting the wicker basket of potatoes next to him and reached out to touch Pumon.
“Friend!” Pumon chirped, nuzzling towards the hand.
Taran cocked his head to the side. That wasn’t English. “I’m Taran.”
The boy’s head snapped up and he retracted his hand sharply. “Englische?”
Taran nodded affirmatively. “I’m English, yeah. And I want to go home. Can you help me?”
The boy, who looked the same age as Taran, shook his head and picked up the basket. “Leave now.”

Pumon looked up at Taran and then bounced into his arms. “But wait. Alvin, why is English bad here?”
He pointed at himself and said, “Alrik. Mein name ist Alrik.” The boy looked at Pumon with wary hazel eyes. “Dangerous here. English bad.” Did he mean his English was bad? Well, it was better than Taran’s whatever he was speaking.
“Why does he understand you more than me?” Taran looked down at Pumon, who shrugged, well as well as a ball could shrug. Taran frowned, usually he made friends really easily and everyone wanted to talk to him. “Are you ignoring me?”
Alrik cocked his head to the side. “You want leave?”
Taran nodded. “Yeah, I guess.” Taran chewed his sleeve and continued to speak. “I want to go home.”
Alrik began walking. “Come.” He stopped and looked back. “But no talk.”

Taran found it hard to bite his tongue the whole time and the judging stares from everyone they walked past as they made their way through the town didn’t make it any easier. It was probably wrong to call this place a town; it was closer to a village from what he had been taught in school. A village had less people and houses. There were probably only twenty or thirty buildings all set out in a row along either side of a dirt track that ran through the village and beyond into the distance. At the other edge of the village, far away, he could see a hill rising up to obscure his view. Was this even the right way to head home? As he snapped out of his daydream, he realised they had stopped in front of one of the houses. “Is this—?”
The boy slammed his finger on Taran’s lips. “Shh.” He pushed open the door and walked inside.
Pumon looked up. “Come on, then. Let’s go!”
Taran nodded, a little afraid, and walked inside.

“Mutti! Ich bin zuhause!” Alrik called out, placing the basket of potatoes on the floor by the door. The house was a single floor and Taran could see that just past this small hallway was a smoke-filled kitchen. Heavenly scents drifted from it, causing Taran’s stomach to grumble. Two doors either side of him were closed but he figured they must be bedrooms. There was no light in the hallway, just the light from the front door and from the kitchen ahead.
“Alrik?” A woman with greying hair tied in a tight bun walked out. “Du bist zuhause. Und, du hast Freunde mitgebracht! Aber, Ich erkenne dich nicht. Du lebst nicht im Dorf?” She smiled warmly, walking towards Taran. “Du heisst?”
Taran pointed at himself and looked at Alrik nervously. He wasn’t allowed to talk but she was talking to him.
Alrik spoke up. “Tomas.” He added quickly, “Aber, er wird bald abreisen.”
“Du musst essen, Tomas. Ich habe Eintopf gekocht. Mögen sie das?”
“Nein, nein. Mutti, wir warden spielen!” Alrik exclaimed, seeming uneasy. He was bouncing from foot to foot nervously, glancing back at Taran throughout the conversation.
She brought her wooden spoon swiftly through the air towards Alrik but stopped it in front of his face. “Alrik! Ruhe bitte.” She retracted the spoon and looked over at Taran. “Tomas, komm essen.”
“Aber—!” Alrik protested.
“Alrik.” She narrowed her gaze at him. “Tomas spricht für sich.”

Taran looked between the two. The mother looked so friendly and kind but Alrik seemed to really want to get him away. Was she pretending like Mrs Adené? He had to say something. She was waiting and it was making him really nervous. Chewing his sleeve, he whispered, “I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”
The wooden spoon slipped from her thin fingers and clattered onto the floor, being the only sound anywhere in the house at that moment. She looked in disbelief. And then her gaunt face lit up like a raging fire. She was so angry all of a sudden. “ENGLISCHE! ENGLISCHE!” She grabbed Alrik by the ear, dragging him towards her and yelling in his face, “Du bist sehr blöd, Alrik! Wir sprechen nicht mit Englische!”
“Es tut mir leid, Mutti!”

Taran stepped back. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to upset you.”
Pumon leapt from Taran’s arms, defensively baring his fangs. “Stay back!”
Alrik’s mother glanced at them. “Gehen! Geh Raus!”
Pumon looked up at Taran and then back at her. “We’ll get out when we want to!”  
Taran frowned. This was so harsh. What had he done? She kept shouting English really angrily. Was it because he was English? But no one had ever been mean to him for this before.
She picked up her spoon and waved it at him. “Geh Raus! Jetzt! Jetzt!”
Alrik looked at them, his eyes sullen and then looked down at his feet. “Sorry…”
“Come on, Taran, let’s go.” Pumon bounced outside and Taran followed closely, afraid to be alone with the angry woman.

“Englische! Englische ist hier!” She yelled out the front door after him.
At that point, the earlier animosity from the villagers exploded into full blown rage as everyone in earshot picked up the nearest object to hand and bared it like a weapon.
Taran felt himself shrink to the size of a pea and fear struck him in place like a statue. Control of his bladder was about to slip from his grasp as a man smashed a chair, grabbing the broken chair leg and baring the pointed end at Taran as he advanced.

A bright flash to his right shocked Taran, breaking him from the trance he was in. From the flash burst a large creature. It looked like a devil from picture books but in a white hue, save for a few black belts. Tattered white bat-like wings protruded from its back, which beat forcefully and blew the villagers near it backwards. Its humanoid head had two large horns either side and then it spoke with a menacing yet velvety voice, “Zero Freeze!” The soulless eyes lit up and unleashed an icy blue beam that froze the man with the chair leg completely still, encased in ice. At that point people began to run and scream. With no warning, the demonic monster flew towards Taran like an arrow. “Razor Wing.” Its wings lit up bright red, like the colour of blood.

Taran ran forwards, screaming in fear. Fumbling, he tried to reach into his bag to pull out the buttons he had put into it but there was no time. “Help! Someone help!” His Digivice buzzed in his pocket as he dived to the ground. Turning back, he saw that the house had just been in was now unrecognizable; it had been decimated by the beast in an instant. Pulling the Digivice out of his front pocket, he held it up and the strange object relayed information to him like a computer.

[In]IceDevimon, Champion level, Virus, Nightmare Soldiers.
His Icy Shower is one you don’t want to get caught in for sure!

So, it was a Digimon. IceDevimon flew back into the air and its long arm extended towards Taran, the claw glistening white. “Frost Claw!”
“Taran!” Pumon knocked him out the way.
“Pumon!” Taran watched the little green ball fly across the dirt and crash into a house. “No! We have to run!”
“I’ll fight. You get safe!” Pumon yelled, bouncing back out of the broken timber and knickknacks. “Dazzle!” The feather on its head began to glow white hot and then Pumon opened its mouth to unleash a beam of rainbow coloured energy. It struck IceDevimon square in the chest, exploding and clouding IceDevimon in smoke, but as soon as the small cloud of smoke cleared, IceDevimon was still flying and completely unscathed. “Quick, Taran!”
IceDevimon glanced at Taran and then flew at Pumon. “Razor Wing!”

Taran felt tears prick his eyes and his throat felt like it was closed. Sliding his hand back into the backpack, he withdrew one of the buttons and pressed it down firmly. But when no one came, fear took control. He would have to save himself. Taran began to run, clenching the button tightly in his hand in the hope someone would come to help. A cry for help came from behind. Taran stopped, balled up his fasts and turned back to see Alrik’s mother trapped under some rubble. Rushing over, the thought of running leaving his mind quickly, Taran tossed the button into his backpack; it obviously had stopped working.

This woman was nice to him until she found out she was English and she had raised Alrik, who was also nice to him; she was a nice person regardless of what she thought of him. He grabbed hold off the wood and tugged but it wouldn’t budge.
She looked up at him, tears in her eyes but not a word left her grimacing mouth.
Taran pushed hard and felt the cuboid beam of wood shift slightly. And then he felt another pair of hands slip over his and saw Alrik on the other side.
He nodded at Taran. “Go.” He screamed as he pulled hard and Taran quickly snapped into action, digging his toes into the dirt and pushing. His chest and arms hurt really bad but it was moving! Abruptly, the beam slipped off Alrik’s mother and fell into the rest of the rubble. Taran fell to the floor, having lost his footing and panted heavily, his arms still throbbing from the strain as he looked at the dust swirling around on the ground.

He looked up, pushing himself back onto his knees and dusting his pyjamas with a pat of his hands.
“Mutti! Du bist okay!” Alrik rushed over, hugging his mum tightly and then they both looked at him. He could see the anger in Alrik’s mother’s eyes but it had changed. Her face, and his, had softened. It made him feel warm inside.
Pumon yelled loudly in pain and Taran snapped his head around to look.
IceDevimon was pinning the small Digimon to ground with his claw.
Little specks of data swirled off Pumon as he groaned in pain. “Taran, run! Now!”
Taran froze briefly but then ran towards Pumon. He wasn’t sure why. He couldn’t quite explain it if someone asked him but something compelled him towards Pumon. Not only was that Digimon his friend, but it felt like he had known him his whole life and he wouldn’t give that up. Not like this. Not for anyone.

IceDevimon’s arm extended rapidly towards Taran like a charging snake. It hit his body with the force of a moving train and thrust him into the ground in one swift movement. Spittle flew from his mouth and he felt himself become winded and struggle to breathe in the time it took for his brain to work out what was going on. The force of the claw on his body, constricting tightly and cutting into him, was coupled with the back-breaking force of the body slam he had just endured to leave him stunned. The pain he had been feeling before was nothing compared to this.
“Taran!” Pumon yelled. “Get off him!”
IceDevimon’s claw glistened white atop Pumon and the latter began to cry out in pain.
Pumon screamed, clearly in pain, “I told you to run!”
His head foggy, Taran looked over at his partner, his friend. “I didn’t want to.” The claws squished harder and he groaned loudly. “I didn’t want to imagine a world without you.” He looked over at Pumon but the little Digimon was now glowing brightly and then energy erupted all around him, forming a sphere. “Pumon, are you okay?” Taran panicked. Was IceDevimon finishing him off? At his waist, he felt the Digivice shaking about.

IceDevimon retracted its claw from Pumon’s orb and then its wings began to frost over. “Icy Shower!”
The orb burst open and a very different Digimon emerged. It looked like a little green squirrel, with some strange mutations. The tail was a long multi-coloured feather plumage and the ears were rounded off but the eyes were exactly the same. Was this Pumon? “Leaf Kunai!” The little Digimon leapt into the air as icicles flew from IceDevimon’s wings and threw several sharpened leaves at IceDevimon’s other claw, the one pinning Taran down. They dug in, sending spirals of data free from the claw and the little green Digimon landed, summoning another handful of them and tossing them at IceDevimon’s face while dodging the icicles that hit the ground.
IceDevimon winced in pain and flew up into the sky as the attack hit. “Zero Freeze!” The beam of freezing energy erupted from its eyes but Pumon was quick to dart away. The size difference between the two was astonishing. Pumon was barely bigger than he was before but IceDevimon easily towered over the houses.

Taran’s Digivice buzzed again and he slowly withdrew it, sitting up despite the crushing pain in his chest remaining.

Punymon, Champion level, Vaccine, Nature Spirits.
He may be small but his Rainbow Sparkle isn’t just for show.

Was that his name now? Punymon? It didn’t sound very strong. And he was only little. IceDevimon was probably going to kill him. As soon as he gathered himself, he called out, “Punymon, quick, let’s go!”
Punymon turned to look but in that instant IceDevimon crashed an icy claw into the moss green Digimon, sending him rocketing through the village.
“Razor Wing!” He flew at Punymon, his wings glowing red once more.
Punymon leapt up and turned around, smacking his bum and turning to stick his tongue out. “Rainbow Sparkle!” The multi-coloured feather tail began to spin faster and faster. Punymon dug his little hands into the ground as a portal opened behind him. The yellow rim of the portal was the only light; the inside of the portal was the darkest dark Taran could imagine. It was terrifying, really.
IceDevimon paused, the red energy dissipating from its wings as it seemed to wonder what to do next.

“Eat this!” Punymon yelled and from the black portal erupted an oversized beam of multi-coloured ethereal energy. It engulfed IceDevimon in an instant, obliterating the Digimon and continuing up into the sky until it eventually faded and Punymon’s portal followed soon after.
Taran looked at Punymon, stunned, as an egg fell from the sky between them, where IceDevimon had previously been.
Punymon charged towards the egg, his eyes lighting up red as leaves appeared in between his fingers. He seemed ravenous and wild, not at all like Pumon was normally. The green Digimon threw the leaves at it, smashing apart the egg and leaving just a cracked shell on the ground. The shell abruptly lost its white and blue swirled appearance and became plain and translucent, like a giant chicken egg. And then Punymon collapsed to the ground, data flying off his body.

Taran leapt up but felt a sharp stabbing pain in his chest as he did so. Nevertheless, he rushed towards Punymon, grimacing all the while. As he reached the Digimon, he noticed that it had turned back into Pumon. “Pumon!” he exclaimed, dropping to his knees and bringing the little green ball into his chest despite the pain it elicited feeling like he was being hit by IceDevimon all over again.
“Did I do good?” Pumon’s voice was raspy and tired.
“Yes, you did very good!” Taran snuggled his partner, smiling warmly.

“Tomas?”
Taran turned around to see Alrik and his mother. “My name’s Taran, not Tomas, silly!”
“Taran?” She nodded. “Danke, Taran.” His mother smiled briefly. “Englische not all bad.”
“Taran, you must go. Everyone blame you for what happened.” Alrik pointed behind Taran, out of the village. “Walk for twenty minutes and you find a path. Walk down path towards Emden. Boat will be called Fähre. Will take you back.”
Taran nodded and stood up. “Thank you.”
“We say: Danke.” Alrik nodded. “Now you.”
Taran smiled. “Danke, Alrik.”
“Wait!” Alrik’s mother came over and knelt down. “Not tied. No good.” She pulled out Taran’s laces from his shoes and tied them tightly. “Now, go.” She stood back up, placing her arm around Alrik.

Taran nodded and turned away, walking away from the village. He had no idea what it was called but he would definitely come back some day and see Alrik. Maybe they could play together next time in the fields. He smiled; he would make sure they played together in the fields.

He headed up the steep hill away from the village and towards the path that would lead him to Emden but decided to glance back. The sun was a little lower in the sky now but it still looked so picturesque. Looking at it just made him further realise just how much he missed Acquina.

A blue portal appeared, like it had with IceDevimon and this time several monsters erupted. Taran’s Digivice buzzed for each of the five Digimon, who quickly began to wreak havoc.

[In]Majiramon, Ultimate level, Data, Wind Guardians, Dragon’s Roar.
This Exalted Beast Digimon can bury a horde of opponents instantly using its Flaming Arrowhead attack.

[In]Kuwagamon, Champion level, Virus, Nature Spirits, Wind Guardians.
This ruthless Digimon will cut you up with its Scissor Arms attack!

[In]Minotarumon, Ultimate level, Virus, Unknown, Nightmare Soldiers, Nature Spirits.
With its Demon Arm it can shake things up using Earthquake Drill.

As if on cue, Majiramon, a green dragon, disappeared into a swirl of light in the sky while Kuwagamon, a big scary red bug, tore apart the houses. Minotarumon, who looked like a minotaur from the stories his mum and dad would tell him, bashed people about with its big metal arm and then Majiramon’s fire arrows descended, decimating the village.

[In]Gwappamon, Champion level, Data, Deep Savers.
This Gwappa Rapper is no fake!

[In]Phantomon, Ultimate level, Virus, Nightmare Soldiers.
This evil Digimon’s Soul Chopper will send you on a fast-track to despair!

“Diabolic Star!” Phantomon, who looked like a grim reaper, swung the chain on the end of its sickle, bashing apart the townspeople with the dark energy ball.
“DJ Shooter!” Discs fired out from Gwappamon’s head, blowing holes into the ground. That frog certainly wasn’t very nice.
In shock, Taran stared, unable to move a muscle as he watched the destruction unfold.

No, that wasn’t right. It wasn’t what Aleena would do. “I have to do something!” Taran exclaimed, running back down the hill as he saw the flames spread and Alrik and his mother disappear from view.
“That won’t help anyone, least of all you.” Matt?
Taran spun to see the blond-haired man behind him with Hououmon also flying above and watching the village. “Please, you can help, right? Let’s go! We can’t just let that happen!”
Matt sighed and looked at Hououmon. “Look, Taran—”
“No! I won’t watch people get hurt!” His Digivice began to shine brightly, burning up on the inside of his pocket.
“This portal is unstable and RODAF will be here soon.” Matt grabbed his wrist. “I’m sorry but sticking around isn’t an option. We’re going to take a shortcut back to England; there’s some things that need our attention.” His eyes flickered blue, different to their natural blue. It seemed to cover his whole eye, not just the iris, for a moment, and then they were sucked away elsewhere while the Digimon continued to rampage.