"Ooooh... now what was that?" Kari groaned, as she slowly opened her eyes.
"Kari!" the enthusiastic voice of her Digimon partner shouted. "Finally, you're awake, sleepyhead."
Kari sat up in the bed she was lying in. It was a very big bed, with silky sheets and ornamented bedposts. It was standing in a big bedroom with marble walls that had a black-and-white, checkered pattern on them. Various paintings hung on the walls, and various pieces of furniture were standing around, a chest of drawers, a wardrobe and some chairs. Rays of light shone through a small window.
Gatomon stood next to the bed and smiled. "I'm glad you're awake. Seems that you knocked your head on something when we landed."
"Landed?" Kari tried visualizing what had happened before. They had fought those shadows... the giant one headed for that keyhole... and then...
"Oh, right," she said. "I opened a Gateway of Light..."
"Is that what it's called? I only know that after it got rid of the monster, it sucked us all in. Did you do that with that keychain of yours?"
The keychain! Kari's hands reached for her pockets, but then she realized that she was wearing something different from her usual clothes.
Sure, pink and white still were the prominent colors, but the pants and shirt she was wearing somehow were shaped as if she was dressed in some sort of... harness, even if it was a harness of cloth. Some belts and straps were holding the garments in place. She also couldn't help but notice the somehow big shoes and the numerous zippers on her new clothes.
"How... Who gave me new clothes?"
"No one," Gatomon said. "They changed shape as soon as we left that big portal of light. Heartmon said that it happened because your clothes 'adapted' to the new world we entered."
"A new world? Gatomon, where are we exactly? And what happened after we went through that gate?"
Gatomon was going to answer, but then, the door opened and someone entered.
It was a very small someone, with a stubby nose and big, round ears. He was wearing garments that somehow looked similar to her own, new ones. He also had a thin tail.
He also looked like a child-sized, humanoid mouse.
"Ah, you're finally awake I see," a somewhat squeaky voice exclaimed. "You sure gave me and my guests quite the surprise when you appeared in the middle of our festival. Your little friend with the heart on his tummy has explained to us where you came from."
"Heartmon?" Kari asked and swung her legs out of the bed. "Is he all right? Where are we, anyway? And who are you?"
The bipedal mouse waved his arms to calm her down. "Now, now. Everything's fine. He is in another room, where he's talking to some of my guests. And to answer your other questions: You are in the guest quarters of Castle Disney. And I am the king of this castle, King Mickey Mouse."
----
"Aw, c'mon, Davis, it's not that bad."
"What do you know? You never changed out of the blue like this before. I mean, sure you did, but that's something else. I mean, look at me: I'm standing on four, furry paws. I have a TAIL!"
Veemon snickered while looking at the animal his partner had become. Sure, he had kept his hairstyle and goggles, but...
"Will you feel better if I tell you that those spots suit you?"
"That's not funny, Veemon," the leopard cub growled.
He groaned. "This is a mess. We don't know where we are, the others are nowhere to be seen, I'm walking around on four legs and I'm hungry as well."
"Hey, maybe the others are somewhere close by. We won't accomplish anything by just sitting here, you know?"
"I guess you're right," Davis sighed and rose to his four legs. He then looked around. "You know, this scenery really doesn't make me feel comfortable around here."
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Veemon nodded.
It was a gloomy landscape, filled with rocks and gnarled trees that looked like they would never grow any leaves. Marshes and mires were visible through the misty fog that was covering the land like a shroud.
Davis shuddered. "I wouldn't want to know just what kind of creatures live in a land like this," he muttered.
"Maybe the scary, furry kind of beasts, that jump out of the mist to scare you out of your wits," Veemon said with a chuckle.
"S-stop it, Veemon."
"Yeah, and once they have cornered you, they will pounce on you and use their shiny teeth to..."
"GRRRRAAAARRRRR!" A dark shadow came jumping out of nowhere and landed on a big boulder in front of them.
"WHAAAAAAH!" Davis and Veemon yelped. "A MONSTER!"
But it was no monster that was crouching on the boulder, with leery eyes, a furry tuft of hair on his head and a waving tail behind him.
It was a lion cub, with dark brown fur.
Davis let out a sigh of relief. "You really gave me a scare there, little guy. I almost believed you were..."
"What are you doing here?" the lion asked in a threatening tone of voice. "Since when do leopards hunt within the borders of the Outlands?"
That made Davis gulp down the words he was going to say. He stared into the lion's yellow eyes and said: "You can talk..."
"What's that supposed to mean?" the lion asked him in an alienated voice. "Do they tell you in the Pride Lands that we Outlanders are savage beasts that can't even talk? Yeah, that's just like them..."
Davis shook his furry head. "Look... I'm sorry I said that, okay? But can you tell us where we are? We are kinda lost..."
"Yes," Veemon nodded. "We are looking for our friends."
The lion seemed to have noticed the blue little dragon only just by now. "What are you supposed to be?" he snorted. "Some lizard mixed with a meerkat?"
He chuckled and jumped down from the boulder. "You two really must be some dim-witted rookies if you don't even know about the Outlands."
"Well, I am a Rookie, but..."
"Veemon, let me take care of this, okay?" Davis said. "Look, um... what's your name again?"
"Call me Kovu," the lion replied in his gruff voice.
"Okay, Kovu, I am Davis and that's Veemon. Now, can you show us the way out of here or not?"
"Maaaaybe I could," Kovu grinned and looked at his forepaws with a sneer. "But... what's in it for me?"
Davis sighed. He really didn't like that lion very much...
----
"Just ssstare into my eyes and everything will turn out just fine," the giant snake hissed while its head circled around Yolei.
Yolei gulped. "No, thanks. I don't know how I can hear you talk, and I really don't wanna know. I'm just searching for a way out of here..."
"Oh, there isss one."
"Oh, really now?"
The enormous python nodded while grinning and looked at her with those strange eyes. "Right into my mouth and through my stomach, my dear."
Yolei gulped as she tried freeing herself from the many coils of the snake's body. "That doesn't sound too pleasurable, thank you. I just wanna get off this tree..."
"Would old Kaa ever lie to you," the snake almost purred in its soothing voice. "Trust in me, just in me, shut your eyes and trust in me. You can sleep safe and sound, knowing I'm around."
Yolei tried very hard to look away from the swirling pupils of the python, but found herself unable to do so. And somehow, she suddenly felt very tired...
"Slip into silent slumber, sail on a silver mist," Kaa continued his rhythmic singing. "Slowly and surely your senses will cease to resist."
Yolei's eyes closed themselves, as she fell into a deep slumber, caused by Kaa's hypnotic voice and dancing. Slowly, the curls of the snake wrapped themselves around her until only her head was visible.
"Trust in me, just in me, close your eyes and trust in me."
Having ascertained that his victim was asleep, Kaa chuckled to himself. That was some easy prey. It would be very tasty, too. It had been such a long time since he had enjoyed the taste of a fresh...
See other episodes by Shritistrang
(Posted Fri, 12 Jan 2007 09:54)
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