The Arrival [p]

[Elijah Stone]

"Where am I?"

Eli spoke the question, but as there was no one around him to answer, the atmosphere remained eerily quiet. Am I dead? Was the next thought to cross his mind. Did he get hit by a car or something? He didn't even know if he had been outside. Last thing he remembered was opening up his locker at school, and then... nothing.

Being dead though, he wasn't certain of. His soul was still bound to his body, at least he believed so. He certainly felt no different. He still felt alive. This place also didn't really make sense to what the bible taught of after death. He should have met someone here, his soul should have been judged for heaven or -- the very thought made Eli shudder -- hell.

"I'm still alive." Eli attested, forcing certainty onto himself. He then pulled himself up to a standing position. He needed to find civilization, find someone who could tell him where he was and how to get home. He had any direction to choose from. My lord, please guide me. He prayed. He then chose a direction and began walking cautiously. There had to be someone out here that could help him... He just hoped he didn't run into trouble.

[Elijah Stone]

"Gotta be brave. Gotta be brave..." The Wormmon repeatedly muttered to himself as he clung to the side of a tree. It was his turn to be on watch, and he had to do his part in their pack! But we was so weak, and such a coward. Ryo, Shiva and Chiro were so strong and brave. They could do this no problem. If they spotted a threat they'd likely jump on it before the rest even had a chance to arrive to help! Weaver though, he was such a useless coward. He'd probably just freeze up at the sight of danger.

Ventus too, their leader. No one could ever ask for a greater leader than him. It was because of Ventus that their pack worked and got stronger every day! He stuck with the pack through everything, and even when Weaver was the last one still stuck in in-training level, he had the pack wait in primary village with him until he finally digivolved. They were way too good to him! Weaver wished he could be more like the others, but it seemed unlikely he'd ever be good for anything...

Wallowing in self pity, he didn't even notice the approach of a strange being until he was right beside him. "Wahh!!" Weaver cried out in surprise, freezing up, his only movement being a violent quivering. Quick! Call for help, do something! the Wormmon thought frantically. "INTRUDER! INTRUDER! Sticky net!" Wormmon cried out, following that up by spraying a web at the strange creature he did not know to be a human.

At the Wormmon's call, the rest of the pack sprang into action, rushing to their packmates aid and surrounding the stranger. Weaver was now joined by a Hawkmon, a Gabumon, a Veemon and a Patamon, and all of them standing ready to strike the person. "Who are you and what is your business here?" The Patamon demanded, stepping forward. He stared at the intruder. He had never seen a digimon like this guy before. "Are you one of Devimon's minions?"

[Elijah Stone]

Eli stopped dead when he heard something cry out. By the time he looked to see what it was though, he ended up with face full of a sticky web like substance. "H-hey!" He sputtered, taking a few steps back as he peeled the sticky threads off his face, though they only ended up sticking to his hands instead. Before he even got a good look at whatever had cried out, he suddenly found himself surrounded by the most bizarre creatures he had ever seen in real life or even in books.

Some sort of blue... dinosaur? A bird, a giant silkworm, a white and blue striped dog (or was it wearing the fur of a dog?) and... a winged... pig? God had put many strange creatures on earth, but these ones were beyond bizarre. Why would so many vastly different creatures be working together like this? This was not normal animal behavior, not by a long shot. Suddenly the winged pig stepped forward, and to Eli's total shock, it spoke to him. This was all kinds of wrong! The only sentient beings god placed on Earth were humans! There was nothing in the bible about talking animals...

God, have mercy. He thought as he stared down at the orange and white creature. What were they going to do to him? "My name is Elijah Stone. I don't even know how I got to this place and my only business is getting back home." Elijah responded. He might as well go along with answering their questions. They were harmless enough for now, and it wasn't like there was much else he could do for the moment. What really confused him though, was the pig's last question. "I don't know who or what Devimon is, and I am no one's minion."

Now, Elijah had no idea if he was even in any position to be asking questions himself, but so far these were the only intelligent beings he had come across. It was worth a shot to figure out something about them and... where ever they were. "Now, might I ask, who and what are you, and where are we?"

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[Elijah Stone]

Ventus listened to Eli's explanation carefully. So he was lost and didn't know how he had even got here? That must have been some case of amnesia. How the heck does someone end up somewhere without even an inkling of an idea how they got there? He became increasingly doubtful about thinking this guy was sent by Devimon. Direct attacks on his victims were more his style, not... feigning cluelessness. "I don't think he's working with Devimon. What do you guys make of this guy?" He asked his pack.

Shiva looked carefully at Elijah. "I have to agree with you Ventus. A minion of Devimon's wouldn't be this slow to attack." She said, scratching her head. All she could really make of him was that he was some strange digimon who had ended up lost. Poor thing. She didn't expect Ventus to help him much though. He and the rest of the pack didn't take to well to outsiders and rarely got involved in issues that didn't concern anyone in the pack.

Chiro on the other hand eyed him closely, pacing in circles around the stranger. He said he didn't even know who or what Devimon was. Who the heck on File Island didn't know about Devimon? "He sure is dressed the part, but eh. No minion of Devimon's would let themselves be surrounded like this without even try to fight back. They aren't that stupid." The Veemon remarked. This encounter had to be interesting though. He may not be one of Devimon's goons, but that didn't mean he wasn't a possible threat. They might just get some fun here yet.

Ryo's and Weaver's remarks generally echoed what had already been said. So they all were pretty much in agreement. "Okay, we believe you aren't with Devimon." Ventus gave the final word on their conclusion. Then Eli started asking his own questions. What were they? Wow. This guy really was clueless. He had to at least be rookie level. How is it he didn't know what kind of digimon they were? He had to have been living under a rock all his life. "Fair enough. This is Ryo, he is a Hawkmon. Chiro here is a Veemon, Shiva a Gabumon, Weaver is a Wormmon and I am Ventus, a Patamon." Ventus said, pointing to each member of his pack as he named them off. "We live as a pack in this forest and I lead it. As for where we are, this is the Digital Forest, more specifically you are standing within our territory." He finished explaining, putting a major emphasis on the fact that he was intruding on their territory. "Now tell us, what kind of digimon are you?"

[Elijah Stone]

Eli could only stand there and hold his breath as he waited for these creatures to decide if they believed him or not. What if they attacked? They were all smaller than him, but other than the silkworm thing, he didn't have any idea of their capabilities. Plus they got him on sheer numbers. His best chance would probably be running, though where ever he was, he might end up running into something worse than these creatures. I'll make it through this. I'm in God's hands. Whatever happens, he'll guide me through it. Just have faith.

Fortunately though, the creatures chose to believe him not to be with this Devimon, and had responded to his questions. At least they were reasonable. Hawkmon, Veemon, Gabumon, Wormmon and Patamon. None of these creatures were anything close to anything he knew of! They all shared the suffix -mon too... Perhaps each species was somehow related? Looking at them, he couldn't see any similarity that would hint at them being sub-species of eachother. Then again, he was no expert on animal identification either.

A little background on what they were. So they lived as a pack. Like wolves. While they appeared intelligent and showed capacity for reasoning, they followed an organized but feral social order. Them all being of mixed species or subspecies made it seem more odd and confusing. How the heck did five distinctly different creatures come together, and what would drive them to form a pack with each other?

As for the location they gave him, it didn't really help much at all. He had never heard of any 'Digital Forest'. Plus, he was getting the feeling Ventus was growing tired of his presence here. "Sorry, but where is the Digital Forest located?" Hopefully if they could tell him the state/country/whatever this place was in, he could get a general idea on where to go to get home, and get away from this bunch as soon as possible.

If there was anything that stunned him the most, it was their next question. "Digi-wha? No!" He repeated in shock. "I'm a human being!" Digimon? Well, I guess that must be the collective name of their species. He thought. However, that didn't explain how they could mistake him as one of them. Surely there was no place on earth that could be so secluded that the natives would not know of humans, and really. He looked nothing like them. How could they think he was one of them?

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[Elijah Stone]

When it was revealed that Eli didn't even know where the digital forest was, Ventus couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. It was one thing not to know about the digital forest, but be ignorant of the entire island it was on? "The digital forest is located on File Island, which is some odd miles off the coast of the Server Continent, all in the digital world. Ventus responded, not thinking he could possibly make it clearer. Something was seriously up with this guy, but Ventus couldn't quite put his wing on it. He still didn't believe he was with Devimon. Even if they did decide to switch tactics, they wouldn't be so stupid as to think they'd believe that they didn't know at all about file island. It just wasn't possible. All digimon were born in primary village. They all had to have been here at some point in their lives!

When Eli revealed that he was not a digimon, and was in fact human, all five digimon took a long step back. This certainly explained why he was so clueless. However, the only thing the pack knew about humans was from fairy tales told to them back when they all still lived in primary village, about humans that partnered with digimon to save the digital world from grave threats. "Uh... Human? Give us a moment." Ventus told Eli.

The pack then huddled together closely a few meters away from Eli. Everyonce in a while one of them would look back at Eli, but otherwise remained focused on each other and speaking in hushed voices. So Eli could not hear what they were saying. "So this guy's a human." Ventus muttered, crossing his arms in deep thought. "What do you guys think about him?"

"Well, what we know of humans," Ryo began, thinking his own response through. "Is that they come from a different world, and while they are generally physically weak and can't stand to well against most digimon, if they form a strong bond with a digimon, they have the ability to give that digimon the power to digivolve at a faster rate than normal." Unfortunately, that was pretty much all they knew about humans. They could still be missing information needed to make a wise decision here.

Chiro had lost any hope of fighting, but the mention of Eli being human had still kept his interest up. He'd never met a human before, and with this human came quite an opportunity here. "Ryo's got a point. I know its not normal, but we should let this guy in our pack! If he bonds with one of us, we'll have a huge advantage over everyone else on the island!" Chiro put in. It was the perfect plan! No one would be able stand against them if they had a human on their side!

"Chiro has got a point..." Wormmon said, trailing off nervously. "But if we just had him join just so he could make one of us stronger, wouldn't that be using him? I don't think he'd like that very much." It did come off to him that such a plan to invite this human into their pack just for their own benefit, would not end well. It would not benefit them at all if they angered the human.

"I agree with Weaver. We can't use him for his powers." said Shiva, uncertainly. That was just all kinds of wrong. "He's lost and hardly knows where he is. We shouldn't take advantage of that. You heard what he said, he wants to go home." Shiva felt sorry for the human. She couldn't imagine what she herself would do if she found herself thrust into a new world all alone!

Ventus took his packmate's views into consideration. Ryo was good at organizing information. Weaver, though timid, was able to give valuable insight into the possible downsides of a plan. Shiva, he felt was too empathetic towards those outside their pack, and Chiro was a bit too over eager and somewhat reckless, they both were loyal members of the pack, and the ideas and insight they provided were just as valuable as Ryo and Weaver.

As for the choice to be made, he was certain of at least one thing. "We aren't using him. If he's to be a part of the pack, then we treat him as part of the pack and we don't use our fellow pack members." Ventus attested. The others nodded and smiled with approval, though Chiro merely shrugged. "Though I do believe it would be beneficial for all of us to offer him a position in our pack. At least give him a chance to find a place with us. If things go awry, we can always chase him out. All in favor?"

"Aye!" The four digimon chimed.

With that matter settled, the pack broke out of their huddle and approached Eli. Ventus sat up, and gave him one more look down. "If you want to go home, I'm afraid you are out of luck. While I've heard stories of humans coming to the digital world, I've heard nothing of anyone ever being able to get to the human world." Eli paused a moment to let this sink in. "However, we would like to welcome you to our pack. We take care of each other, you can build a new life with us."

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[Elijah Stone]

Elijah's face grew pale, his blood running cold, when Ventus told him exactly where he was, straight down to the world. At first he didn't think anything, the knowledge was so devastating that it took a moment to even register in his mind just what position he was in. Then he felt fear. He was god knows how far away from home, and he might not even be able to contact home or even get home for that matter. What... what was going to happen to him? What was he supposed to eat out here? Where could he find shelter? If he didn't get home by Sunday he'd miss church!

"Y-yeah. Okay" Eli said, barely realizing what the patamon had even said. While they moved away, Eli was left to consider his situation. He was in some strange world, with no food, no water, no shelter and communication with his own world. Plus it was full of these... Digimon creatures. He wondered if there were any bigger than these ones. He hoped not. He wouldn't stand a chance. He didn't even think he stood a chance against this bunch.

How did he even get here? Better question, WHY was he here? This had to be some act of God. There was nothing on Earth that could cause someone from one world to wake up in another. Did I do something wrong? He thought. That couldn't be. He dedicated his life to following god's teachings, he confessed every sin. He was a good man! But there had to be some reason the almighty had put him here. Maybe God wants me to do something here. He thought. That seemed the most plausible explanation. How ever, it looked like he'd have to figure that out on his own. He had faith as his strength though. If God wished him to do something here, he would protect him from the dangers.

Well, now he had purpose.... sort of. He however, still had the matter of supplies. He fortunately had his backpack with him, but before he could pull it off and examine its contents, Ventus and his pack had approached him again, and surprisingly, offered to let him join their pack. Well, it certainly was unorthodox. Human living among animals? But he needed shelter, and god provided him with this opportunity. "I thank you for your offer. I'd be honored to join you."

[Elijah Stone]

"Hurrah!" The pack cheered. It was clear Eli was a very warm welcome to their little group.

"Then welcome to the pack Elijah Stone. Time to show you our camp." said Ventus. He then turned to Shiva. "Continue patrol Shiva. Everyone else, back to camp!" Ventus commanded, and they all headed back deeper into the forest. He rarely considered inviting newcomers into the pack. After all, if one just invited every person who asked, one could very well be inviting an enemy in. Eli didn't appear to be an enemy, and he believed he had mad the correct decision in allowing him to join.

It didn't take too long to reach their little home. However, their home turned out to be a clearing with what appeared to be a rock surrounded by low laying shrubs. "Err, we're going to need to expand the den." Ventus noted, pulling away one of the bushes to reveal an entrance. The 'rock' was actually a mound of dried mud. However, it was only big enough for four small digimon. Ventus had figured they would need considerable expansion once one of the pack digivolved to champion level, but that event wasn't likely to happen too soon, and he had been assuming they wouldn't need to expand for a while.

He turned to Eli. If he just arrived in the digital world, it was probable he hadn't had anything to eat yet. That needed to be dealt with too."I'm guessing you are probably hungry. Weaver and Chiro, you are on hunting duty. The rest of us are going to collect supplies to rebuild the den." Ventus announced, clapping his paws together. They needed to get work done on their den complete within the day. If they didn't finish some of it, they would have to all sleep outside, which would be less than ideal here.

"Aww, okay boss." Chiro said, though he was unhappy that Ventus didn't put him with Eli. He wanted a chance to become Elijah's partner, but how was he supposed to bond with him if they weren't together? He'd have to be more insistent in the future. "Come on Weaver, lets find some grub." The Veemon said as he started to leave.

"Grub?" The Wormmon echoed, shaking a bit and not really moving to follow Chiro.

The Veemon stopped and rolled his eyes. "As in food. Not actual grubs!" Chiro said.

"Coming!" said Weaver, scrambling to catch up with his friend.

Meanwhile, Ventus, Elijah and Ryo headed off in their own direction, on a search for materials for a new den. "We need some good strong sticks rocks to strengthen the walls. Mud disguises the den, but alone it isn't really that strong." Ryo explained as they walked through the forest. He then flew up into a tree, and bit off a few leaves, letting them drop to the ground. These leaves weren't anything like you'd see on earth. These leaves were huge, nearly twice the size of Ventus. "We can use those leaves to carry the sticks and rocks we collect."

"Yup! The sticks and rocks will be easy to collect with these." Ventus said, grabbing a leaf for himself. "Mud on the other hand will be a bit tricky, but we'll worry about that later." Once Ryo grabbed his leaf and went off to collect his own sticks, Ventus looked up at Eli. "Eli, there is a legend you should know about." said Ventus, sitting down. "They say when a digimon and human forms a powerful bond of friendship, they become partners and a digivice will appear to the human, which allows the human's partner to digivolve and grow stronger faster." He explained. He wasn't sure how Eli would react to this, but it was something he needed to know, especially since some of the pack would likely be vying for his attention for this very reason. "I wanted you to be aware of that, but know that you are part of the pack, and we intend to treat you as we do each other."

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[Elijah Stone]

Eli smiled as the pack cheered for their new packmate. Well, this was going to take some getting used to. He was no longer at home with his comfortable bed, warm home and parents to provide for him. He had to make it himself in this brand new world, and he'd have to figure out how he'd best survive out here in the wilderness. Joining this pack was a good start. They seemed very close and Ventus seemed like a good leader. Thinking about it, whatever god wished him to do here likely had something to do with this pack. It had to be no coincidence they met so quickly.

They soon reached a small clearing. At first it didn't really look like anything, the only thing of note here being a rock with several bushes surrounding it. It wasn't until Ventus pulled back the branches of one of the bushes that he realized that the rock was actually a den. Smart camouflage. He placed a hand on its surface. It was quite strong too. He wondered what they did when it rained. it wouldn't be good if it got too wet. They probably figured something out. It seems to have held out well so far. He thought.

"You are definitely right." Eli agreed with Ventus when he spoke about needing to expand the den. Their best bet of expanding it. However, the bushes could be a problem. Their roots probably went pretty deep and none of pack looked like they had anything on them that could cut through them very well. Plus disturbing the roots could loosen the ground and cause the entire structure to collapse. Rebuilding the entire thing might be the only option.

When asked about food, Eli's first instinct was to deny. They had to work on the den right? However, before he could do so, his stomach made an audible grumble, giving him away completely. "A bit yeah." He said, scratching the back of his head. He had expected to be told to be a part of food collection too, but instead Ventus sent Weaver and Chiro out for food. He wasn't sure if food collection was a dull chore or not, but Chiro seemed disappointed to be but on such a duty.

Without much delay, he, Ventus and Ryo were off in their own direction, on the search for supplies. Eli simply nodded when Ryo explained the structure of their den. Eli didn't have much knowledge of building mud houses, but what the avian digimon said did make sense. Dirt was hardly going to stand up on its own. It would need something stronger to prevent it from falling apart at the slightest touch.

When Ryo flew up and dropped a few jumbo sized leaves down on them, he took a moment to admire the surroundings. The trees were quite exotic looking. He'd never seen such huge leaves on any tree back home. It was actually quite beautiful to look at. He picked up his own leaf. He probably could carry sticks in his arms, but the leaf folded end to end would make a sling to carry branches more easily.

Ryo was off quick enough after dropping the leaves, but before he could go himself, Ventus got his attention, looking quite serious. When the patamon told him about humans bonding with digimon and these digivices that made them stronger, he didn't know what to think. So... Were they trying to use them for this? He wasn't sure. Ventus seemed to want to ensure him that he was a pack member like any of the others and would be treated as such. "I... don't really know what to say to that." He confessed, frowning. Does God want me to partner up with one of these digimon? Is that why I'm here? It was possible. Then again, it could just be a story. Then again, what would cause such a story about a race from another world to come into existence? "Well, whatever happens happens I guess." He said, shrugging.

His thoughts then drifted to Devimon. The pack had mentioned him when they had met, but it sounded like he was some sort of enemy of them. Devimon... Devil? Eli gulped. It did did make sense. Both Hawkmon and Wormmon were named for the creatures they resembled. "Who's Devimon? You mentioned him earlier."

[Elijah Stone]

"I just don't want you thinking we are using you for anything." Ventus attested.Well, at least he took it well, even if he didn't sound too sure of it all. "Though feel free to let me know if any one is bothering you too much." He hoped his pack was respectful enough not to shove themselves in Eli's face. He needed order in his pack, and he didn't want to have to deal with such issues. Eli was human and he did represent a huge opportunity to strengthen the pack, but if it were to happen, Ventus wanted it to happen naturally, not forced out to the point Eli became overstressed from all the attention.

Not that it was likely to happen anyways. It was a legend after all, and it was just as much possible that it might not even be true. Ventus grabbed his leaf and was about to continue on with their work, when Eli suddenly brought up Devimon. A somber expression overtook the Patamon's face at the thought of their foe. "Devimon. He is an evil digimon who makes his lair at the peek of the Misty Mountains. He loves nothing more than to send his goons to beat down digimon who don't gravel to him, and he goes by the name Lucian. One day when we are strong enough, we'll climb the Misty Mountains and defeat him so he can't bother us anymore!" Ventus announced, standing up tall with his wings flared out proudly. That day would come eventually, and when that day came Lucian would wish he and his goons never messed with his pack!