Digimon Adventure Tri: Echo

26) Golden Knowledge

With introductions out of the way, the next objective for the different groups of Chosen Children was to try and meet up. That was easier said than done due to the distance between them (a product of their misfortune when the gate started to drag them through in the first place), but they were able to make at least some progress despite this roadblock appearing in their path from the very beginning. The Harmonious Ones were able to traverse the Digital World much faster than the groups would have been able to move by walking. The Digimon were, for the most part, still struggling to find the energy to evolve, so the outside assistance was most certainly appreciated in ways that the Chosen Children could only barely hope to explain to others. 

Koushiro, Miyako, Ken, and Meiko were sitting on the back of Huanglongmon alongside their partners and Maki as they continued their journey through the Digital World. Huanglongmon's walking speed was admittedly impressive when he was trying to move quickly, though because there were so many people on his back, he was unable to run the way that he would have done otherwise. Koushiro was fine with this since he knew that the running would undoubtedly be disorienting to him and likely other members of his team. He was used to flying as his partner's primary method of transportation, and he didn't think that was going to change anytime soon. He couldn't see AtlurKabuterimon suddenly becoming strong in the department of running out of the blue. 

After Huanglongmon had been moving for a solid fifteen minutes or so, he began to come to a halt after slowing down significantly. Maki slid off his back and gestured for the rest of the group to do the same. "There's food around here," Maki said simply. Even if she hadn't been in the Digital World for over fifteen years, she was still able to pick up on the necessary signs from her partner's actions to be sure that this was the reason for Huanglongmon to stop in his journey through the realm. 

The rest of the Chosen Children followed her lead, and Huanglongmon lowered himself to the ground so that they didn't have to jump quite as far to reach the ground. He remained down even after the fact, taking this as a chance to rest before they were forced to keep moving once again. Maki had explained briefly that Huanglongmon was primarily stationary, looking over the Wall of Fire when he felt that there was a disturbance. Huanglongmon was the one who had spent years ensuring that Apocalymon didn't break free, and when the Dark Masters sealed him away, that was when the evil Digimon was finally given the chance to roam through the Digital World without anyone to stop him. As such, Huanglongmon mostly stayed in that single location since there wasn't much of a reason for him to leave and see what the rest of the world had to offer to him. 

Maki was quick to walk the group over to a set of trees that dotted the area. They had moved out of the dusty and abandoned desert area where they had been previously when the fight against Assaultmon took place, and while the ground was still mostly barren and covered with empty dirt, there were a few natural features that dotted the space if one looked close enough to find them. Maki reached up to a tree and pulled down a fruit that was hanging from the branches, and she examined it with a passive yet curious gaze. "It seems to me as if things are still at least somewhat similar to how they were fifteen years ago," she muttered. "This isn't exactly what I'm used to, but at least it's something." She took a bite into the fruit without much care for the potential ramifications of such an action, and she nodded to herself. "It tastes good enough. Come on over here, everyone. You might as well give this a try if you think that you need food. Actually, I'll go on and answer that question for you; all of you definitely need to get this into your systems."

Koushiro didn't hesitate as he walked over to the tree, and he reached up and pulled a fruit off a branch that was hanging low enough for him to reach it. He took a bite a moment later and was met with a lovely sweet taste in response. It was certainly nice, and he appreciated it after the issues that they had struggled with previously due to a lack of sustenance to evolve. Tentomon flew to the upper segment of the tree and started pulling off the ripest of fruits before carrying them down en masse towards the ground. From there, he distributed them freely among the remaining members of the group.