Hey everyone! Sorry about the long wait. I would like to thank Nobility and rika4life for the reviews. And I would like to thank the people who added this story to their favourites and subscription.

My chapters for stories are always pretty short, 6 pages at most. Which I apologise for. If it's any longer I would run out of ideas and keep it blank for a while, which means it's a longer wait. So anyways, on with the story!! Oh and I also apologise for spelling errors in the previous chapter and any going to be in this one.

Chapter two – Crimson Ocean.

"Well ladies and gents ... Welcome back to the Digital World!"

I removed Ryo's hand from my shoulder and looked around. The Digital World was different then before; the place seemed dead, literally. The trees which used to stand tall, now hunched over and had no leaves. The small river now ran dry, and the grass was brown. It was as though the energy was sucked out of everything.

"Why is everything so different?" I heard Jeri ask. "Nothing seems lively anymore."

"I know. It's definitely odd," Henry said, frowning.

"It's actually spooky," Kazu pointed out. I snorted, of all things the Digital World was right now, it definitely was not spooky. "I wonder where we are. We've never landed here before."

Ryo snapped his fingers. "I remember this place." He said. I rolled my eyes, of course he does. "Cyberdramon and I were here before when we fought Phantomon."

"Alright, so why is it dead?" Kenta asked, almost to himself.

"Oh! I remember this place too!" I called. How could I be so stupid? "Renamon and I were here when we left the two walking idiots and Akiyama." I gave a loud sigh, "though the place was peaceful. I wonder what happened to it."

"Well there is no use crying over spilt milk," Henry said. "Anyways, we should find a place to camp before nightfall."

"I agree. And besides, the fall took my energy." Kazu whined. Since when does he ever have any energy?

"Shh. Do you guys hear something?" Ryo whispered. He placed his hand behind his hear to listen more carefully. "It sounds like someone is in trouble." He started running in the direction of the cries. Being the moron that I am, I followed him. We rounded some trees, and went down a small hill, and I got drenched in mud.

"Akiyama, wait up," I called. I was running out of breath, and had trouble keeping up, due to dodging broken trees. He suddenly haulted and I crashed right into him, falling to the ground, into more mud. Of course. "Ow. What's your problem?"

"The crying has just ... stopped." He replied, huffing from the run. He lent me his hand to help me up, but I pushed it away, standing up on my own accord. I rubbed some mud off – well tried to – but I ended up smearing it. I frowned.

"Where are we?" I asked. The place was completely different then the dead woods. We were standing by some sort of dock, overlooking a Digital Ocean. Only the ocean wasn't blue, it was a crimson colour, which looked terrifying horrible.

Ryo's face dropped. "This, this used to be the Sea of Peace." He shook his head. "What's going on here?"

"Hey guys? Where are you?" Takato's voice rang through the silent air.

"Come on Rika. Let's get back to them," Ryo said. He turned away from the ocean and started walking towards the sound of Takato's voice.

I walked over to the dock and sat down, looking at the water. I was mesmorized by it, for some reason it drew me to it. I leaned over the dock and stuck my hand into the water. Wrong choice. Something grabbed a hold of me and pulled me down. I felt the rush of the water blast against my face, and my lungs felt ready to explode. I closed my eyes and awaited the pain that I knew all too well would come – the pain of drowning.

XXVXX

"Rika? Rika wake up." A voice called to me. It felt distant, like it was miles away. "Rika?"

"Maybe she isn't alive." Another voice said. If I was awake, I would slap the person.

"Kazu, don't say that." A girl said, sobbing. I felt my body being pressed in and my eyes snapped open. I coughed and hacked as water came rushing from my mouth. Someone was smacking my back, lightly though.

"What happened?" I asked between deep breaths.

"Welcome back Pumpkin." Ryo smiled. "Thought we lost you. When Takato called us, I thought you were right behind me, when I noticed you weren't I panicked. So being the hero that I am, I dove into the water, since I knew it was the only place you would go to."

I, however, didn't believe a word he was saying. "Right. Well, I'm fine, so you can stop touching me now." Ryo cuckled and let go of me. I gave a sigh. "How long was I out?"

"Not long. About an hour or so. You're lucky we still had time to set up camp before dark." Henry said.

I blinked and noticed that the sky was completely black. The only lights shining were those of Data Streams in the distance, and the Real World. I made an attempt to stand up but fell right back down. My head ached like I was suddenly smacked with a frying pan.

"We should all get some sleep now." Takato said, yawning. "We need to hunt for our Digimon."

"Agree. I'll take first watch, this way I can watch the WildCat." Ryo said, grinning.

"I don't need you to watch me, Akiyama. What am I, two?" I snapped. I attempted to stand back up but a dizzy spell overworked me and I collasped. "Fine. Watch me, just don't touch me."

Everyone exchanged their good nights as I looked into the fire. I felt so tired and groggy. I leaned up against a huge rock and closed my eyes. Today was the worst day ever, but on the bright side, the water washed away the mud.

"Hey Rika. Are you cold?" Ryo asked me. Without waiting for a reply, he threw a blanket over top of me and sat down beside me.

"Err. Thanks." I replied sleepily. I was too tired to yell at him for sitting beside me. With one last breath I began to fall into a relaxing sleep, listening to the soft breaths from Ryo and the sound of the fire crackling.

A/N: Phew. Glad that chapter is done. Hope you liked it. Next chapter will be coming soon, I promise. I've been working on my Summer to Italy story, which is why I haven't updated this. Check it out sometime! And by the way, for upcoming chapters, I might switch the views from Rika's point of view to third person point of view. Warning you now so you wont be confused later. And again, I apologise for any spelling mistakes I may have.