Lynn and Dynamon stop at the river, looking at it. Lynn turns to her little 'Mon, and says "Think you can get over?" Dynamon shrugs (a complicated gesture for a creature with two sets of shoulders), and says "Probably. I'm not that good of a flyer, though, so I couldn't carry you." Lynn hrms, and says "Maybe we can all work together to push down that tree?" She gives an appraising look to the digital foliage on the near side of the bank.

Caudamon walks, much more slowly than the other Digimon, forcing Abel to trail behind the others. "This heat is simply dreadful for my complexion." Caudamon complains. "And much as I enjoy the exercise, I am working up an awful lot of sweat. I must smell positively dreadful."

"Really it's just your attitude that stinks."

"What was that, Abel dear?"

"Nothing! Nothing at all."

"That's what I thought." Caudamon says, grinning another sharp grin as Abel forces a smile of his own towards the Salamander type Digimon, following along the path that the others finally carved out after too long a wait. Caudamon's complaints grind to a halt, as the two of them share a few moments of silence, nothing much to say to each other, and less sure what to say to anyone else. However, at the first sign of the rushing sound, a bright look crosses the both of their faces, and their walking speed greatly increases till they overtake the group, breaking free and reaching the river almost immediately.

"Oh sweet relief! A nice rushing stream. It's almost like being home again." Caudamon and Abel both say. There's an awkward pause as the two look at each other, eyebrows raised, before Caudamon slips into the water and takes a swim, using its powerful tail to propel itself through the water with surprising grace and strength against the heavy current. Abel, meanwhile, kneels down and splashes his face, before taking a long drink from the river, dunking his head and then rising to his feet.

Abel lets out a deep sigh of relief, happy to be in moderately familiar territory. "So what's that map thing you were following say?" Abel asks, turning to Karie.

"Great. Water." Manekimon looks over toward Meiya with a look of disgust on his face. "I certainly hope you don't expect me to swim."

"Why? You can't?"

"No."

"Then why?"

Manekimon turns away aloofly. "Because. I am Manekimon."

"... that makes no sense at all."

"To you."

Meiya mutters, "You know, I think I liked cats more when I couldn't hear what they were saying."

"I heard that."

Facepalming, she thinks for a moment, looking at the river.

"Think you could hop those stones instead?"

"...what if I slip?" Manekimon trundles to the edge, nosing just before the water and eyeing the nearest stone.

"You'll live." Meiya says... dryly.

He turns away from the river to give her a long look.

"What I mean to say, is that your jump shall be so flawless, that you won't get a single drop on your fur." She continues guilelessly.

The long look continues.

"I can see you now, flying through the air with the greatest of ease..."

Manekimon gives a long sigh. "Anyone else have any bright ideas?"

The tree is halfway out of the ground, with a lot of its roots exposed. It may be solid, or it may be ready to fall at any moment.

Abel has a strange sensation from the water. Although he can cool his face with it, and drink it, his hands and face are dry within 10 seconds, as if the extra water simply is gone after a few seconds.

Kohaku walks up to Lynn, the person who suggested they work to try and knock the tree down over the river side. "I'd be game for trying to knock that tree down. Maybe try and form a bridge with it. You got an idea?"

Diamon sits quietly on Kohaku's shoulder. Looking at the stones on the bank, she examines them to see if there are any she could reasonably pick up and throw into the water to help form a walkway.

Lynn nods to Kohaku, and says "I figure if we all just push it'll fall into the water and make a bridge. You up for helping out?" Before waiting for his answer, she goes to brace herself against the tree to push it. Dynamon, however, grabs her arm, then looks up at the tree, and back to her. "You'd better be careful. You don't want to let those live vines touch you."

Lynn does a double-take, and says "Wait, those things are actually electric? Like, conductive electric?" Dynamon gives a toothy grin, and says "I wouldn't recommend grabbing one."

With that revelation, Lynn ponders for a second more. "Doesn't seem to be hurting Caudamon or Abel, though. I'd say you give it a push, Dynamon. Maybe Ganmon can help you out? I bet he's pretty insulated too."

Dynamon smiles, and says "Sounds like a plan. Ganmon! Wanna come help out?" He then grips the tree, hunches down, and gets ready to push with all his might.

Karie stops and looks at the river, considering her map, when Abel interrupts her thinking. Turning an icy glare his direction, she says, "I'm still trying to figure that out. Don't you have one, too?"

Meanwhile, Ganmon nods at Dynamon's suggestion. "You got it, Dynamon! Let's go!" And with that, he runs next to the electric dinosaur and gets ready to push as well. "On three! One! Two! Three!" And with a mighty push propelling his weight from his hind legs, he gives his strength to Dynamon.

Kai walks in silence, studying the interface on the Digi-Phone.

"There's a lot here... even more to unlock. Any idea what your next form will look like Taka? It's all grayed out..."

"Not a clue. We won't know until we hit that level of power. ...ooh I smell water. I wonder if there is any fish?"

Kai watches as the others ponder the electric tree and it starts to fall over. "Oooo, easy bridge. Reminds me of when I used to hike."

Taka scoots Kai backward with her wing, "Anyone else not condisidering what an electric tree will do to..." and the tree begins to fall, "...water." Taka braces herself.

Kai blinks, "Won't it just short out?"

The tree is cool to the touch, and oddly smooth despite the bark covering it. It has a faint vibration on touching it, but there is no shock.

The two strong digimon push the tree, and with a mighty crack it falls into the water, which gives off a rather small splash. The tree's crown, however, still leaves a clearance of about 4 feet from the water to the far bank. A good jump may clear it, but its not a short one. Also, something strange appears to be happening to the tree. The edges are blurring, as if losing focus, and a cloud of squares starts to emit from it. It progresses slowly but surely, as if the tree is shaking apart or dissolving.

Lynn blinks as the tree begins to disintegrate, then yells "Wait, what!?" She then frantically leaps on top of the tree, flips around, and waves for everyone to follow. "Hurry, before it completely disintegrates!" She then dashes across the tree, with Dynamon in hot pursuit.

Kohaku jumps up onto the log and starts moving across, with Diamon's scarf touch onto the trunk for a bit of helpful balancing across.

"My scarf can extend across most of the way across to the other side!" Diamon says, gripping onto Kohaku's shoulder. "When Kohaku and I get across, we can grab onto anyone as they jump across and help them across!"

"Sounds like a plan, so long as we get across too!" Kohaku yells as he nears the other side, grabbing onto Diamon to make sure the two of them don't get separated in mid air. "So long as you use that scarf to make sure we get across, too!"

"Right!" Diamon readies her scarf to grab onto anything on the other side to help make sure the duo get across., If they get across, they then ready themselves to try and catch anyone coming after them.

Manekimon has also scampered onto the log, moving with feline agility to move quickly along it. Meiya, in the meantime, looks much more dubious, and is forced to move much slower.

Karie looks up from her phone to see the other kids panicking and running across a fading log, Ganmon following. "Wait, what?" With a snarl, she bolts after Ganmon across the log. "Get back here! And don't go doing things without telling me!"

Abel backs away from the snippy Karie, and focuses instead on the rest of the team, who have now made an effort to push a tree into the river. "I..." he sighs. "Well, whatever works I guess." He lags behind the others, noting that the tree is dissolving, but firmly aware that, if push came to shove, he could probably make it across the river, while the others might not. "Caudamon! Make sure no one falls in, all right?"

"Whatever you say darling." Caudamon says, a blissfully unaware expression on its face.

"Great." He says, with just the slightest hint of sarcasm. "What are you just standing around for? Move move move!" He says, nudging Kai on the back and pointing at the tree. "You go first. Or do I have to try and carry you again?"

Lynn dives across the tree, easily making the jump. As Kohaku lands next to her, Diamon stretches out with its scarf, grabbing Meiya's arm, ayanking her forward so that she is flung across the clearing, landing a good ten feet away if softly, as the cat digimon lands lightly next to her crumpled form.

As Karie runs across the tree, it shifts, as its root system is close to collapsing, only a few threads still visible in the dissolving mass of pixels. She has to make a flying leap to make it. Takamon drags Kai behind, clearing the ground for just a bit before dropping her friend on the ground.

Last of all, Abel isn't so lucky. As he drags the distracted salamander creature behind him, the tree suddenly makes a sound like a cork popping out of a bottle, and the remaining pixels simply dissolve, pitching the two into the water.

As Abel lands in th water, he feels the sensation of being immersed that he expects, but as he sinks, without warning he suddenly falls into a pocket of air, smacking into the dry river bed. Looking up, he cannot see the water, as if it is both missing from this angle and intangibly there. Reaching up, however, he can feel the water suddeny immerse his entire bod y again as soon as any part of him reaches up far enough. After a few moments of this, he moves carefully to the far bank, and then pushes himself through the water's strange barrier, landing on the other side with the rest of the group.


- - - -

Less than half an hour after the river, the kids find another clearing. For a while now, the trees have been thinning, giving the impression of perhaps finding the edge of the forest. This impression comes to a head, suddenly, when the group comes approximately to the location Karie had noted. A group of huts, made of grass and wood, are arranged in a simple semi circle. Creatures are roaming throughout the village. None of them are particularly large, more remiscent of the build and size of the smaller forms the partner Digimon had been until just recently. There are two main types, though there are a few different sorts. Small red quadrupedal creatures with very tiny bat wings and a surprisingly thick stubby tail, and green creatures that appear to have amorphous bodies topped with a simple round head with a horn sticking out of the forehead.

When the kids are noticed approaching, most of the small creatures scatter, hiding in houses or behind nearby trees or structures. A small group bee line for the larger hut in the middle if the circle, calling out for their chief. "Humans! There are humans here!"

One of the red creatures, though, slowly approaches the group. "H-humans? Here? And with Digimon? W-who are you?"