Erm... The second chapter. It is smaller than the first, but there isn't much happening anyway. So, enjoy!

...------------------------...

Sleep couldn't come for him no matter how hard he tried. Kouji was on his back, hands beneath his head and eyes staring up at the starry sky above him. His mind was just too full of thoughts to let him get a peaceful night's rest. Even if he could, Kouji doubted he would. Someone would need to keep watch during the nights. And since Terriermon had crashed as soon as the fire had started to die down, he was the only person left to keep said watch.

With a sigh, he rolled over onto his side. Everything was quiet before with a groan, he fell back onto his back, arms out. He just couldn't lye still right now. Kouji sat up, looking at the charred remains of the only course of heat they had. They would need more wood. Yeah. That's how to could justify his going out. He was just looking for wood. At least, that's what he'd tell Terriermon if he asked. Truth was, he couldn't stop thinking about his friends. He had to know. For the most part, check to see if any of them were around where he was.

With his mind made up, the boy stood, stepping around Terriermon in his quest to go deeper into the trees. Barely any light just made things a lot more difficult for him. The trees cast their shadows all over the place, making things looks different than they actually were, and putting Kouji on extremely high alert. It was only good that his ankle had stopped bleeding and hurting a while back otherwise, this would have been a lot harder on him.

His nerves were being run thin. With constantly moving shadows from the wind and the leave rustling together, Kouji was jumping at every little thing. With possible death lurking behind every bush, you would be too. After the third time of jumping and spinning around at the sound of rustling leaves, Kouji knew he was being paranoid. Casting a weary gaze around the tall trees surrounding him, he continued on his march. There was a difference between leaves and an enemy Digimon. He just had to figure out what that was.

Head turned to the side as a new sound came to him, Kouji slowing his pace until he was at a complete stop. Without even knowing it Kouji held his breath. That was definitely not the trees. Rhythmic pounding and continuous rustling. And it was getting louder. Now was a good time to be on alert. Taking a fighting stance, Kouji waited, ready for almost anything to come barging through those trees.

A moving dark spot was the first thing that caught his attention, the next being the two other moving shadows trailing after it. There was shouting, most of it being along the lines of, 'Get him!' and 'He's too weak to run much further!' and a few snickers of laughter following after that. The other two were still a bit away from the first.

However ready he may have been for a Digimon to show up, what he found was not what he was expecting at all. With the miniscule amount of light the stars could give, hints of red and brown were the most obvious, next to the glare from the light reflecting off of something. Relaxing from the whole surprise of it all, Kouji took a small step forward.

"Takuya?" he asked, almost afraid to incase it wasn't.

"Kouji?" A short lived happy reunion. Takuya looked up at his friend, taking a few staggering steps forward. "Buddy, am I glad to see you! But we need to get outta here!" He was clutching his right arm close to his body, blood, both old and fresh, decorating Takuya's form. Takuya was staggering while he walked, an obvious limp to his step. Kouji could see the pain in his friend's eyes as he grew closer. There was no way the brunette would be able to make it anywhere in the condition he was in.

Takuya let out a small yelp, falling forward onto one knee. He was clutching his arm more now, eyes clenched shut. "Takuya!" Kouji called, rushing to his side. Knleeing down next to his injured friend, Kouji looked up as the voices from before were growing louder. They had to get out of there. Neither of them would survive a fight if one broke out. But how could Takuya get away in the state he was in? Kouji wasn't about to ditch him to save his own hide. Gritting his teeth, he stood, turning to face the way they were coming from. If he had to, Kouji would fight.

Two light purple rabbit-looking creatures with large ears and larger claws. Twice the trouble. There were smirks stretched across both of their small muzzles as they spotted the two humans. Both exchanged looks, a few small snickers coming from them. It could only mean trouble. "We go after one and find another!" one of the creatures put a hand on it's hip, as it ignored the two boys in front of it.

"Cerberumon is sure to reward us well if we bring them both in!"

Now, they turned to face the two, taking steps forward. Kouji held his ground, eyes not leaving the enemy. They raised their claws towards him, fangs showing as they grinned malicious grins. Two against one. The odds were not in his favor. He took a small step back. Definately not good. Terriermon had mentioned a Cerberumon telling other Digimon to turn them in. Did these two injure Takuya?

One leaped, the other soon following suit. This was it. Kouji readied his body for the impact he knew would come. There was nothing stopping them from ripping him apart like they had done to Takuya. The least he could do was put up a fight.

"Bunny Blast!"

The call rang out before the blast came. It slammed into the first of the Digimon, sending it back into the second and putting the two in a mixed up pile on the ground. Arguing words soon broke out as they untangkled themselves, standing and growling at the new enemy. Terriermon stood protectivly in front of the two, fight in his eyes as he glared at the rabbit-cat beings. "We don't need this!" they called, turning tail and running back through the trees. "Cerberumon never said anything about him!"

Standing to his full height, the bunny put his paws on his hips, the glare disappearing and his usual goofy grin back on his face. "Gazimon. Scardy cats when a real enemy shows up." He turned, giving Kouji a small thumbs up. "Aren't you glad I showed up?" Once again, Kouji wasn't paying attention to him, though he did send a small thankful smile to him before going back to his friend. "Who's he?" Terriermon couldn't help but ask, walking over to where Kouji was.

Takuya wasn't unconscious, but there was no way he could walk on his own. He had to be in so much pain from the multipule cuts and gashes. And the way he gripped his arm like that. Something serious had happened. Grabbing the arm he took to be uninjured, Kouji slowly lifted the other boy to his feet. Kouji put Takuya's arm around his shoulders, the other help to support his friend further. "Terriermon, I need you to find some more meat apples and wood."

"Huh?! But what about-"

"I'll be fine. Those Gazimon aren't coming back any time soon." Kouji shifted his grip on Takuya so it would be easier on the both of them, turning his gaze away from the Digimon.

A small huff left Terriermon, his paws crossing over his chest as he turned his back to the two. "Fine. I can see when I'm not wanted." He trotted off.

Kouji couldn't help but let a small smile come. "Meet me back at the campsite!" Whether or not the little bunny heard him went unknown. Terriermon wasn't even heading back in the direction of the camp, taking his own detour to get the things he had asked. It was now that Kouji was truely glad he had ran into the little Digimon. His attention shifted back to the injured Takuya. He was still gripping his other arm. That must be where the major pain was. The black haired boy began the tedious walk back.

It was a quiet walk for the most part. Takuya was let out little yelps whenever his arm seemed to move. Other than that, neither of them spoke. Relief washed over Kouji as the campsite came to view. He would have expected Terriermon to be there before them, but the ligh colored Digimon was no where to be found. Part of Kouji was happy. He could talk to Takuya without having any interruptions. Takuya seemed to be in less pain now. Another good thing. He helped the other boy sit down by the fire, grabbing a nearby long stick to poke and prod the coals from the earlier fire into some existance. Dry leaves and grass were tossed on to get a small flame going. It wasn't much, but hopefully it lasted until more wood could be found.

He continued to poke the coals and ashes every now and then, tryng to find something to start a conversation. "So, this is where you've been for two week, huh?" Not the best way to start. Kouji took a small glance at the other boy sitting next to him. Takuya was still holding his arm, one knee up with the other leg stretched out in front of him, eyes staring at the fire.

"It's been two weeks?" There was so much surprise in his voice and on his face that it caught Kouji off guard.

"Yeah. You didn't know?"

Takuya shook his head. "I knew it was more than a few days. But still, two weeks? Damn. My parents must be worried."

Setting the small branch down, Kouji couldn't help but smile a bit. "Tomoki had everyone going on rescue searches for five hours a day. He asked me if he could use my dog to try to track your scent. You should have seen it, Takuya. We thought he had gone crazy. Though, at the time we were all pretty freaked out."

"Sorry."

"Hey, it's not your fault. No need to appologise."

"Kouichi must be rubbing off on you, Kouji." A small smile crossed Takuya's face.

"Whatever." Kouji couldn't help it. He smiled a bit, too. Kouichi was rubbing off on him. There was a small moment of silence that followed that. Finally, he got up the courage to ask, "What's wrong with your arm?" It wasn't a nasty comment towards his friend. Kouji was concerned. Something was wrong. He knew that for one hundred percent now. A broken bone maybe? Or a dislocated shoulder? Scratches alone wouldn't put Takuya in that much pain.

Takuya was silent, looking at the dancing flames. "Cerberumon was the very first Digimon I ever fought as Agunimon. I never thought that I'd see him again. I was walking home from running a few errands for my mom and when I turned a corner, I saw him, standing there. He led me somewhere and attacked from behind. Next thing I knew, my shoulder was busted up and I was in the Digital World again." He shrugged as best he could. "How about you? How'd you get here?"

Now, Kouji shrugged, falling acbk onto his back, hands behind his head once more. "Dunno. I think it was Cerberumon, though. Izumi and Kouichi were with me when it happened. We were attacked. Well, I was. I think he found me the biggest threat and tried to hurt me like he did to you. Only, he got my ankle and not my shoulder. Everything went dark and I woke up here."

"So, wait. If Kouichi and Izumi were with you, what about Tomoki and Junpei?"

"Truthfully? I don't know. Junpei disappeared days before Tomoki. Though, if I'm right, they're probably here. If Cerberumon got to them, that is. Which explains why I couldn't get ahold of you on your cell phone no matter how hard I tried."

"Kouji, do you... care?"

"No! I just wanted to stop Tomoki from waking me up at 7 in the morning."

"Aw! You do care!"

"Did I miss something?"

"Terriermon!" Kouji shouted, glad to change the subject. He looked at the Digimon. Terriermon's ears were holding the apples, his paws full with sticks and twigs for the fire. It was hard to tell how much longer darkness would plague the forest, but the wood that the bunny Digimon had should at least keep a small flame going until sunrise. Reaching up, he took the sticks from Terriermon, sitting back up again.

"Are those meat apples? Yum!"

"Hey!" Terriermon yelped as Takuya took one of the oddly colored apples.

Kouji laughed at the two. "He still has to get the apple on the stick."

There was a space of silence, the fire crackling as the flame grew larger. Terriermon sat down between the two friends, putting his own apple on a stick to cook. Finally, Kouji heard the brunette sigh in defeat. "Kouji?"

"Yeah?"

"Help."

------------------------...-------------------------

The Gazimon collaspsed, panting on the ground of the small town. Few Digimon walking around paid attention to the little rabbit-feline creatures, going back to their tasks at hand. The two identical looking Digimon ignored some of the strange looks they were getting, pushing themselves into standing positions. They continued farther into the small darkened town, taking nervous glances around for whatever it was they were looking for. Both let out small yelps as a cold voice reached their ears, asking for what they were looking for.

"W-we're looking for Cerberumon!" one finally stuttered, looking around for the source of the voice.

"Oh? What do you need to speak to me about?" Cerberumon stepped out of some shadows between two buildings, his paws and face being the only distinguishable things. He looked down at the two Gazimon, not at all pleased with seeing the two.

Yelping in surprise, the two jumped, spinning around and cowering at the sight of the dog-looking creature. "We found two humans! In the forest."

The resulting growl made them shiver even more. "And you didn't capture them and bring them to me? You useless Digimon! I should have known better than to trust you two incompitant fools!" Cerberumon took a threatening step forward, glaring at the other two.

"They had a Terriermon!" they cried out, hugging each other and fearing for their lives. "The humans, one was badly hurt. His arm! And the other one! The other one didn't try to stop us from trying to hurt them. Then the Terriermon showed up. Don't eat us."

"What?" The larger, darker Digimon pulled his head back, staring down at the Gazimon. He closed his eyes, stepping completely out of the shadows and walking away from the two. "You are no longer needed. And you know what you need to do now." Cerberumon paused, a smirk forming on his maw.

From behind him, a small "yes," was spoken before the cries of the Gazimon filled the air of the town. "I'll make sure the humans don't reach this place."

"Good."

-------------------...--------------------

Okay, I admit it. I'm an evil person. A new enemy! Yay! And more of Cerberumon.