AND NOW, A MUSICAL INTERLUDE

by Aardwulf, July 2000


If Tai had his facts straight, the rainforests of Earth took up only a tiny fraction of the planet's land mass, and were in serious danger of being wiped out entirely by industrialisation. The same most definitely could not be said for the Digiworld, where the accursed jungle seemed to stretch on and on without so much as a hint of ever ending. Tai was growing weary of seeing green in every direction.

Something else was starting to bother him, too: an unusual silence had fallen over the seven children and their digimon, silence that hung in the air like a heavy, oppressive cloud. The utter stillness was becoming rather unsettling.

"Y'know, if you guys were any quieter, you'd be dead," he called over his shoulder.

Just behind him, Sora rolled her eyes in exasperation. "And what do you recommend?"

"Anybody know any travelling songs?" Agumon suggested.

Tai crossed his arms behind his head and gazed up at the jungle canopy. He grinned, suddenly, and turned back to Agumon. "I think I've got one."

From somewhere near the middle of the group, Matt muttered something unintelligible but disparaging, which Tai chose to ignore.

"You can sing backup," he told the saurian, "and I'll come in a little later. Just keep repeating this..." He cleared his throat and started chanting: "Ah-wee-muh-way, ah-wee-muh-way, ah-wee-muh-way, ah-wee-muh-way..."

"Oh, Tai, no!" Sora protested, shooting him a look of something akin to horror.

"Ah-wee-muh-way, ah-wee-muh-way..." Agumon parroted his human, then grinned back at Sora. "I like it!" At her companion's side, Biyomon picked up the chant, much to Sora's dismay.

Tai nodded in time to the rhythm, then jumped in at the appropriate spot. "In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps toniiiiight...in the jungle, the quiet jungle, the lion sleeps toniiiiight!

"This is my favourite part," he said to Agumon in an aside, then took a deep breath and screeched at the top of his lungs: "Ah-eeeeeeeeeeee-ee-ee-eee, ah-ee-ah-um-buh-waaaayyy..."

"Did somebody run over a cat up there?" Joe called from the rear of the procession. Mimi giggled. Tai disregarded them utterly, repeating the last line while Agumon and Biyomon carried the rhythm.

He blinked and trailed off when he realised that he had no idea what the next line was. "There's another verse, but I don't know what it is," he admitted to a clearly disappointed Agumon.

"Near the village, the peaceful village, the lion sleeps tonight," Matt supplied, his soft voice carrying throughout the rainforest, though he was looking anywhere but in Tai's direction. "Near the village, the quiet village, the lion sleeps tonight..."

"Ah-eeeeeeeeeeee-ee-ee-eee, ah-ee-ah-um-buh-waaaayyy!" Agumon shrilled cheerfully, joined by all the other digimon and TK on the next line.

Joe sang the last verse, much to everyone's surprise. "Hush my darling, don't fear my darling, the lion sleeps tonight..." He fell silent, blushing furiously at another giggle from Mimi. Sora picked up where he'd left off.

"Hush my darling, don't fear my darling, the lion sleeps tonight..."

Fourteen voices burst forth in less-than-perfect harmony, singing the final two lines with great gusto, whatever worries they'd had momentarily forgotten in the thrill of the moment.

"Ah-eeeeeeeeeeee-ee-ee-eee, ah-ee-ah-um-buh-waaaayyy...ah-eeeeeeeeeeee-ee-ee-eee, ah-ee-ah-um-buh-waaaayyy!"

The song at an end, silence fell over the travellers once again, but it was warmer this time, less bleak, broken occasionally by a mumbled "Ah-wee-muh-way, ah-wee-muh-way," from Agumon.

"Well," Izzy said after a time, turning to Joe, who was walking beside him. "Do you want to start 'Ninety-Nine Bottles of Beer', or shall I?"

-fin-

DISCLAIMER: "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", "Digimon", the patent for the spoon-straw, and a really nifty DeLorean I've been seeing around town lately all belong to somebody else. No infringement of copyright is intended or should be inferred, although if I had the money I certainly wouldn't mind getting my hands on that car. I know a lot of you are just dying to have a stupid pointless fic like this one up on your websites, but please do not redistribute this story without the permission of the author. ;)

I have no idea if a bunch of Japanese children would have any knowledge of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" (or "Ninety-Nine Bottles of Beer"), but it translated well in a Spanish version of "The Lion King", so I'm guessing it's one of those inexplicable phenomena that crosses all cultural and lingual barriers. Sort of like the Macarena. Or platform shoes. Anyway, it's just a story; don't think too hard about it. :)