[tri OOM] Autor and File Island

[angry_friendship_wolf]

The door they exit from is sturdy and wooden, but also appears to be part of an otherwise glass telephone box, overgrown with plantlife and sitting solitary on a high cliff over the island.

They're high enough that most of the island can be seen: Its central point is a mountain that's almost more a spike of rock, tall enough to pierce the clouds, and radiating outwards around it is a hodgepodge of different areas that seem like they shouldn't all be on the same island.

Closest to the mountain, there's what looks like a small village made entirely of pastel-coloured cushions; a tropical jungle with a ruined temple of black and brown stone jutting out of it; and a desert with gear markings carved into the ground and a single, leafy mountain in the centre.

Spreading out further than that, there are a lot of forests, some kind of icy tundra, what appears to be a massive factory, a vaguely medieval looking city with a shimmering white palace in it, a small village covered by a dark cloud, and approximately half a mountain (situated at the very edge of the island, and looking very much like someone just sliced it down the middle). Just beneath the cliff that Autor and Yamato are on, there's a lake, and on one side of that a grassy plain covered with ruined trains.

"So, this is File Island," Yamato says, as he closes the door behind Autor. "It's the oldest part of the Digital World."

Comments

[herr_bookman]

Autor takes in the surrounding area, from the cushion village to the lake to the forests. He adjusts his glasses, surveying everything. "I see," he says, a little overwhelmed but trying not to betray that. "What's your favorite area to visit?"

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"I'm not brilliant with the heat, so the Gear Desert is somewhere I try to stay away from," Yamato says, a little wryly. "And I wouldn't necessarily recommend going to that shadowed village, because the Bakemon there try to eat people, but honestly you can immobilise them just by chanting at them so that's not much of a threat."

He cocks his head, sitting down at the edge of the cliff. "Probably the big places of interest, though -- that cushiony place is the Village of Beginnings, where Digimon are reborn, and the ruined building is the Temple of the Chosen, which is basically just a maze with history, mythology, and prophecy carved into its walls. There are some hot springs, and a fridge full of eggs, next to the Gear Desert. The place with the castle is Toy Town."

[herr_bookman]

That all sounds good. Except... "A fridge full of eggs? What?" Autor says, blinking over at where the Gear Desert might be located.

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"Yeah, it's just -- it's full of eggs," Yamato says, rubbing the back of his neck. "Regular chicken eggs. Jyou gets annoyed whenever we suggest eating them, because he doesn't trust that the fridge full of eggs in the middle of some hot springs is safe."

[herr_bookman]

"Odd," Autor says, thinking he can almost pick out the fridge from here. He probably can't. "I'm with Jyou. I wouldn't trust eggs that have been around for any length of time in the Digital World. So, the rebirth village, then?"

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"I just want something other than fish and fruit," Yamato mutters, a little sullenly. "Yeah, let's go. We can pretty much pass straight through the Roadsign Forest and get there."

He settles Tsunomon on the ground, giving his fur a quick ruffle. "Hey, go back and check on camp for me, will you? Tell them I might not be back for a while."

Tsunomon gives a quick nod. "Okay." And bounces off.

Yamato watches him go, then starts heading down the hill, towards the forest.

[herr_bookman]

Autor follows, glancing around at their surroundings. "He's awfully cute like that. Not that he wasn't cute as Gabumon, but there's something about a little, orange ball with a horn."

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"I do have the most adorable partner, I won't lie," Yamato says, sagely. "Being ball-shaped seems to be a recurring theme for Digimon of his level. Limbs don't really set in until they evolve to Child."

[herr_bookman]

"Heh," Autor says, and then blinks. "Really? I wonder why that is. They're babies at this level, so maybe it's to emphasize that they're supposed to be helpless?"

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"Could be," Yamato says, thoughtfully. "They are pretty helpless, after all. And, I mean, more closely related to each other right now, too. Digimon evolution is like a tree, so they diverge more with every evolution."

The forest starts more or less immediately at the bottom of the hill: Densely packed deciduous trees, and between them, hundreds upon hundreds of bent out of shape road signs. There is, luckily, a path through them, just about wide enough for two or three people.

After walking a through paces, Yamato pauses, gives Autor a quick grin, and reaches towards one of the trees. "Hey, watch this."

He sticks his arm into the tree, and it goes straight through the trunk, as if the tree isn't even there.

[herr_bookman]

Autor jumps, fully expecting Yamato to jam his knuckles against the solid tree, and then blinks when he doesn't. "Wait, what? What? Are all the trees like this?"

[angry_friendship_wolf]

Yamato laughs, pulling his arm out. "Nah. This tree, and all the ones that look like it in this forest, are just empty textures. Like, the illusion of a tree, or the pattern of one overlaid over empty air. The others are real, though."

[herr_bookman]

Autor strides up to the tree and thrusts his arm into it until the elbow. He waggles his fingers on the other side and chuckles. "That's fantastic. How did you discover this?"

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"The first time we came here, the Digimon showed it to us. Since it's just about big enough for a person, it can make a useful hiding place in a pinch."

[herr_bookman]

"No kidding," Autor says, removing his arm from the tree. "I bet that saved you a few times. Shall we continue on?"

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"Yeah. It's not too far."

Yamato keeps walking, sticking to the forest path as the road signs start to become less frequent, until they eventually arrive out on a field. There's a railway track running down the center of it, with a railway crossing ahead, and ahead of that the Village of Beginnings.

Up close, the Village looks to be made mostly of cubes, spheres, and pyramids, pastel-coloured and decorated with pictures of ducks, and fruit, and sailing ships.

Yamato crosses the railway track, heading towards the Village. "Elecmon should be around somewhere, unless he's running an errand or something."

[herr_bookman]

The Village looks like his sister's old nursery, Autor thinks. It's fitting, really.

"Will it be okay for the Digimon to see me? What about the human partners?" Autor says, blinking at Yamato. "Will the latter ask questions?"

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"As far as the Digimon go, they'll probably just take it in their stride. They know of humans, even if they don't remember ever seeing one," Yamato says. "Taichi and the others -- they're not likely to be leaving camp any time today, but if they see you, it's not like 'this person comes from another world' is exactly unusual for any of them."

[herr_bookman]

"Well, that's good at least," Autor says, adjusting his glasses. "I wouldn't want my presence to upset or confuse anyone. I'll meet whomever you deem is okay meeting me."

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"Might've been different when I was younger, at least as far as Taichi and the others went," Yamato says, agreeably. "But this time, we all chose to come here, so I can afford to be a little more relaxed about the magic bar."

Beat.

"And Taichi knows all about it anyway."

The landscape changes sharply as they enter the Village, from a flat plain to what might have been intended as gently rolling hills, but is really more like a lot of slightly curved plains at slight inclines. The grass is odd here, too -- bright green, but patterned with a grid of darker green.

Scattered throughout the village are eggs, the size of Yamato's head and brightly coloured, and interspersed among them cribs that look to be made of rock.

They only make it about ten steps into the Village before something starts moving around them -- a small, red shape that darts from cover to cover.

"That'd be Elecmon," Yamato says, wryly.

[herr_bookman]

Acting on instinct, Autor crouches down. "Is he afraid of us? He's the caretaker of the Village, right?"

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"Afraid might be the wrong word for it. He's pretty capable of eviscerating both of us if he wanted to," Yamato says, mildly. "But he won't."

He sits down by Autor, tucking one leg under the other and pulling out his harmonica, starting to play. It takes a few minutes, but eventually Elecmon comes out.

He sniffs at the two of them for a moment, then straightens up onto his hind legs. "You're new on the island," he says, in a voice that's far too deep for how he looks. "Welcome to my village."

[herr_bookman]

The cognitive dissonance from hearing that deep a voice from something so cute makes Autor smile. He bows his head, offering a hand. "Thank you for greeting me, Elecmon. It's a pleasure to be here."

[angry_friendship_wolf]

Elecmon gives the hand a cautious sniff, then places a paw in it, giving it a quick shake.

Yamato puts his harmonica away, jabbing a thumb over at Autor. "This is Autor, and I'm Yamato. You and I have actually met before."

Elecmon snorts. "Before the Reboot, right? I hatched just in time to have to deal with thousands of other eggs hatching," he says, and gestures Autor along. "C'mon, if you're here I'll put you to work. There's some eggs that still need hatching."

[herr_bookman]

Autor raises his brows, and stands, dusting off his knees. "Sure, I'm willing to be put to work. What can I do to help?"