Terry and Silkmon made their way through the thick forest with some ease thanks to Silkmon's sense of direction. When they reached a clearing, they stopped to sit a moment. "Is there any food around here? Maybe a river for water?" Terry asked, starting to feel fatigue setting in.
"There should actually be some where a couple of your friends landed, it seemed like they fell near the Gateway River. There are some fruit trees in that area. It shouldn't be too much further." He hopped onto the ground and sniffed. "Just that way, only an hour or two of walking should get us there."
Terry lifted him up and continued walking. "Nice, I hope everyone's alright." He was thinking of Tina, but was concerned for the others as well.
When they were on the edge of the clearing, Terry felt a tug at his leg. He looked down and saw that he had stepped into some roots. "Oops, gotta get untangled." He reached towards his feet, but the roots lashed upwards and wrapped around his arm, then pulled into the ground, smashing his face into the dirt.
The roots let go and he reeled backwards, clutching his surely broken nose. "God. DAMMIT!" He screamed, still in shock.
"Terry, stay back!" Silkmon shouted, getting into a defensive position.
Terry was still holding his face with both hands. "What is it with the plants in this world?!" He heard a whack! right before the wind was knocked out of him by Silkmon crashing into his chest.
"Ch-champion..." Silkmon stuttered weakly. Terry looked up and saw a larger monster than the first one he had encountered. It looked like a huge vegetable with two vines (that looked a lot like roots) for arms.
Terry didn't understand what "champion" meant, but it was clear this thing was a lot stronger than Silkmon. Too much for Silkmon to fight. Terry picked up a fallen tree branch, ready to fight. "I'm not gonna let you keep me from finding my friends, and I'm damn sure not gonna let you hurt Silkmon!" The creature grinned at the challenge.
Silkmon looked up, still injured and too weak to move. He's just a human, but he's trying to protect me. I can't lay here... I need to save him...
Terry took a big swing with the branch. The creature grunted, but seemed a lot more angry than hurt. It swatted the branch from Terry's hand and lifted him by the wrist. It pulled him closer and sneered at him. He used the opportunity to kick it in the nose. The creature dropped him and reeled in pain.
"That's what you get for smashing mine! Now we're even!" Terry yelled. He looked back to make sure Silkmon was okay. What he saw was amazing.
Silkmon was glowing. "I have to save Terry!" He screamed. Followed by, "Silkmon... Digivolve!!!"
Both Terry and the monster stopped and stared in amazement. A bright light shot out from the spot where Silkmon had been. When the light started to dim, Terry noticed something larger than Silkmon was standing there now. It had large furry wings, huge blue eyes, multiple arms, and a large bug-like abdomen.
This new form jumped forward and crashed into the monster. Then it flew upwards and stopped above the monster and shouted "Blizzard Wing!" A huge cascade of frost and snow descended on the monster, freezing it solid in just seconds.
"Whoa." Terry muttered. "Uh, that's still you, right, Silkmon?"
The new form turned towards him and smiled wide. "I'm Woolwingmon now! Our bond made me evolve to save you." He flew over and hugged Terry. "I'm so glad it worked! We'll be a lot safer in the search for your friends with my new strength."
Terry had almost forgotten. "You're right! We should get back to looking for them!" He stood up and then stopped, looking at the frozen monster. "Should we let him out?"
Woolwingmon looked up at him. "Do you think we should?"
"Well, yeah maybe. I mean the last one ended up being a misunderstanding, you know? Maybe this one only attacked because we're intruding or something. Could you maybe just thaw his head so he can talk?"
Woolwingmon smiled and nodded. "Absolutely." He flew to the creatures head and cracked the ice apart with a few well-placed jabs. "Hey buddy, why did you attack us?"
The monster could barely speak from the cold. "L-looking for food, n-no e-eat for f-four days!"
Woolwingmon looked back to Terry. "Well the good news is that he's a victim of circumstance and not actually evil but the bad news is that he was definitely trying to eat you."
"N-no e-eat if l-let me o-out!" The monster screamed.
Terry thought for a moment. "Let him out. He can come with us and we can help him find a better place for food. Maybe this area of the forrest is just a little bare."
Woolwingmon nodded and broke the rest of the ice. "You're free to go your own way or come along with us if you'd like some help foraging."
The monster happily jumped around. "Thank you thank you! Zassoumon so happy!"
Terry smiled, "No problem, Zassoumon." He looked to Woolwingmon. "Let's get going, partner."
