Disclaimer: I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.
Fandom: Digimon Adventure 02
Title: Take Off The Collar: Chapter 2: Out Of The Tree
Characters: Takeru
Word Count: chapter: 2,071||story: 4,120
Genre: Drama||Rated: PG
Challenge: This was written for the Adventue Calendar Challenge, day #5; Diversity Writing Challenge, section I, #18, a multichap with chapters over 2000 words; Monthly Restrict #2, one character cannot speak at all.
Notes: This takes place sometime after the defeat of BelialVamdemon. You can imagine the 02 epilogue or not, as you please.
Summary: [2/8 chapters, Takeru, 2014 Advent Calendar, Diversity Writing, & Monthly Restrict] Takeru wants a lot of things as he flees through the Digital World. His D-3, his D-Terminal, his Digimon partner, his friends. His voice.


Takeru didn't play basketball for nothing. Even as his foot slipped, he jumped forward, convincing his body that he was just going for a basket, he was not all trying to save his own life, and even if he was, there wasn't a yawning expanse of empty air between himself and the ground. All he needed to do was land safely on that tree branch not far away and he would be fine.

"Did you hear something?" BlackAgumon's voice wafted up from below. Takeru wished they would shut up. He couldn't save himself if he kept getting distracted by them talking.

With a small whuff, he landed on his target and wrapped his arms tightly around the tree trunk. Now he wanted to convince his body that he hadn't just pulled off a miracle and get it to calm down so he could think up another one to get out of here altogether.

"No. What do you think it was?" Dark Lizarmon asked. Takeru refused to look at them. He didn't want to know what they were doing, except for getting out of here and as far away from him as they could.

"I'm not sure." Was that sniffing? It probably was. "Gazimon?"

"I heard it too." If Takeru could've made an audible sigh, he would have. It still wasn't the worst it could be. That wouldn't happen unless he was brought back to her.

He tried not to breathe too hard at the thought of that. With the kinds of trackers who were on his trail, any kind of noise could be dangerous.

He leaned up against the tree trunk and tried to figure out his next move. As long as they lurked down at the bottom, almost anything could happen, and probably would. He needed to just get away from them, if they weren't going to be kind enough to get away from him.

So, he had two choices at the moment: he could either stay where he was and hope that they missed him, going on to search other areas, or keep trying to move on out of there and hope that they didn't notice his scent or that he wouldn't make some kind of a noise that would get their attention. Or that he already hadn't and that was what they'd heard.

If I stay here, they'll find me for sure. He wasn't good at divining the odds, but he decided to take the chance anyway. He could not let himself be taken back to her.

They were talking among themselves now, too low for him to hear. He was fine with that. He inched along more carefully, checking for the next branch that would get him farther away from them. He kind of wished that he'd found himself a cave system or something like that he could've hidden in, instead of these trees that didn't offer nearly as much protection as he thought he needed while being chased by three relentless trackers.

"And just what do you think you're doing up there?" A deep voice suddenly asked.

Takeru would've groaned, if it would've made a sound when he did. As it was, he shook his head as hard as he could, looking around for whoever had spoken.

"Well? Aren't you going to answer me?" The branches shifted underneath him and Takeru jumped back, clinging, trying to figure out who was talking. A Digimon, yes, but he couldn't tell which one. He didn't see anything unusual, just the trees...

A tree with eyes, now focusing on him. Jureimon. That wasn't so bad; Juriemon weren't always like the one Yamato had told him about, deceptive and underhanded. He had to hope that this one was dsifferent.

"Say something, boy!" Juriemon snapped, branches wavering underneath Takeru. "Don't you know how to apologize for climbing all over someone?"

Takeru waved his hands as best that he could, trying to convey that he hadn't meant any harm at all. He wanted this collar off, he ached so much with the need to actually say something!

"One uses a voice to speak, child." Juriemon pulled a branch closer: the one that Takeru was clinging to. "Don't you have a voice?"

Well, he could answer that, at least. He shook his head as hard as he could and motioned to the collar around his neck. Juriemon's giant brows furrowed.

"What is this?"

Takeru wished he had some way to tell the great tree Digimon to be quiet. They weren't that far away from where Gazimon, BlackAgumon, and Dark Lizamon searched. For all he knew, they were already on the way. Enough bad things had happened to him that he wasn't going to rule the idea out altogether.

"Oh, ho, I see, you've gotten into trouble with her." Juriemon shook his head in sympathy. "You certainly don't pick your enemies wisely, do you?"

Takeru rolled his eyes and slumped his shoulders for a moment. He hadn't picked her to start with. She'd been the one to pick him, snapping him up from the others as if she'd been picking items at a candy counter.

"Oh, how precious! So pretty!" Tree branches wrapped around him tightly, pulling him closer to her. He struggled, even as Angemon darted closer, trying to get to him. "Oh, go away. You're not as pretty as your little human friend is. I don't want anything to do with you!"

"I'm afraid we come as a set," Angemon declared, preparing one of his attacks. She didn't even look away from Takeru as one of the tree branches she controlled smacked Angemon out of the sky.

"Then I'm breaking the set. You're going to come live with me, human," she said, smiling down at him. "And you're going to stay with me forever."

Takeru wanted to tell her that he had plans for forever, but a leaf wrapped itself around his lips before he could open his mouth properly.

"I'm not interested in what your voice can do, my dear," Dryamon told him, a sweet, sickly smile turning her lips upward. "I have so many other uses for you than that."

Takeru could already count the number of nightmares he was going to have about this. He could see Angemon getting back into the air, shaking himself off and starting toward them again, even more furious than before. He did his best to cry out, though the gag kept him quiet regardless of his efforts.

"You again?" Dryamon stood up straighter, her eyes flashing in fury. "What do I have to do to keep you down?"

"That won't happen, not so long as you threaten Takeru!" Angemon declared, raising his rod.

Dryamon lifted her head, a glimmering golden glow enveloping her. Takeru had never seen her attack before – he hadn't even known she existed before her sudden attack – but he could recognize the beginnings of it anyway. "Luminous Beauty!" The glow shot forth in a pale image of her own face, knocking hard into Angemon, sending him flying backwards. Takeru just managed to catch a glimpse of his partner reverting to Patamon and tried to reach for him, wriggling one hand free of his bonds.

"Now, now, none of that," Dryamon swatted at his hand as if he were a child who needed correction. "It's time to go." She raised her voice to get the attention of her followers. "I have what I wanted, come along now."

All of the others who'd come with her, an odd collection of Virus and Data types, dropped whatever they were doing and headed back toward her. Takeru had no idea of how she had any control over them, and could only squirm helplessly in his bonds as he was taken away with them.

A slender twig tapped at his forehead and Takeru refocused on the situation in front of him. Juriemon did not look happy.

"Dryamon's servants are scouring the woods looking for you, boy."

Takeru nodded; he'd known that already. He tugged harder at the collar, remembering suddenly what Dryamon had told him before, that only a Digimon could remove the collar. Or that a human couldn't, anyway. He looked at Jureimon and waved furiously at the collar, hoping to get his message across. He wished that he had something he could write with. Why hadn't he thought to bring a notebook? His D-Terminal could've been useful, if Dryamon hadn't confiscated it along with his D-3 after their arrival in her castle.

I still don't know why she wanted me. She hadn't seemed inclined to let him know, either, but treated him as something of a prized pet, collar and leash included. At least he got a private place to sleep, even if that was just a large pillow in her own room. He would have much preferred his own bed, but it could've been worse.

Juriemon tapped him again. "Pay attention! You want that off, don't you?"

Juriemon had understood him! Takeru could've thrown a party with his relief. He nodded as swiftly as he could and tilted his head back in anticipation. He could feel Jureimon's twig moving underneath it, and then -

"I would not do that if I were you, Jureimon."

Another silent groan and Takeru turned to see BlackAgumon, Dark Lizamon, and Gazimon standing there.

I wonder if this collar has a curse on it. Can Dryamon curse people? He didn't know, but he wouldn't have been surprised in the slightest. With the way everything else was going at the moment, he decided he would just be grateful that Dryamon herself hadn't turned up. At least not as of yet.

Juriemon turned his stern gaze onto the three there. "And who are you to decide what I should or should not do? This is a Chosen Child, not one of your mistress's slaves."

Takeru decided right then that he liked this Juriemon. He had a good head on his branches.

"But he does belong to her. You can see the collar right there," Dark Lizamon pointed out.

Takeru shook his head at once and took a careful step back, doing all that he could to indicate that he wasn't her property, short of making rude gestures.

"Which I will be removing." Juriemon started to reach for Takeru again, only to freeze this time as Gazimon suddenly shot in front of the blond, claws wrapping around the teenager's neck. "What do you think you're doing?"

That was exactly what Takeru wanted to know, jerking as far back from Gazimon's far too sharp claws as he possibly could.

"It's simple. He belongs to Lady Dryamon. We are taking him back to her. He might be bruised when we get there, but we're going." He wrapped his other arm around Takeru's waist and jerked him down, not caring that they both stood a ridiculous distance from the ground.

Dark Lizamon leaped up, catching Takeru halfway, and dropping him back down to the ground. His grip was as strong as Gazimon's, which meant Takeru knew he had little chances of breaking it. That didn't mean he didn't try, though. He slammed one knee into the Digimon, making a soundless gasp of effort, and shoved with every bit of his strength.

Finding humans who were strong enough to fight against Digimon wasn't easy. Many would've said it was impossible. Takeru would've said that it depended on the human and the Digimon. Right now, with every ounce of his being dedicated to not getting caught and dragged back to Dryamon, he had something of an advantage. It was a small one, the advantage of a cornered beast, a wild thing desperate to escape at any cost.

In this one moment, it worked. Dark Lizamon stumbled back, taken just enough off guard by the sudden strike for his grip to loosen. Takeru pulled himself away, hissing silently as Dark Lizamon's claws scraped on his arms. Streaks of blood sprang up, with shots of pain radiating outward.

He would take care of them another time. He didn't trust any medical care that Dryamon might've wanted to give him, much less what price she might want to extract from him as a result of it.

With all the speed that he could muster, he turned and pelted out of there. He would've preferred staying long enough to let Jureimon get rid of the collar, but not when it came to having to fight for it against those three.

To Be Continued