Chapter 2

Sora awoke to a smooth and gentle voice calling her name. She knew it all too well, and when she opened her eyes she was able to distinguish the figure hovering over her as Matt.

"Hey, are you alright?" he asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered. The tall musician helped her stand steady in the lush field that the Digidestined had landed in. Unlike in their world, there were no sounds of birds, squirrels, or other animals, as most of the sentient beings in this world were digital monsters.

Sora looked around to see that everyone else was already up and about. The field was surrounded by tall trees, which meant that they were most likely in some kind of forest. The lack of any visible mountains in the area suggested that they were on the continent of Server instead of File Island.

Izzy was already typing on the new laptop he had received for university, and Mimi was sitting beside him on a large rock they found. TK had walked quite some distance away from the group, but remained close enough so that they were still within shouting range. It was obvious he was checking out the area for any type of indication as to where they were or where they should even go. Kari and Joe were talking politely amongst themselves as they stood closer to the majority of their little gathering.

"It looks like the sun is going to set soon," Sora said as she looked up into the sky.

"We should find some place to set up camp and get started on some real traveling in the morning," Matt suggested.

"It's probably not the best idea to do that out here in the open where any stray Digimon can attack. Let's head into the forest and get our bearings before the sun completely sets," Izzy said, shutting off his laptop and putting it into his backpack.

"Hey Teeks!" Matt shouted loudly. TK turned around and looked at the rest of the group. "We're heading into the forest! Let's go!"

They could see the blonde basketball player run quickly over to them, and within a matter of seconds he was standing next to Sora with a grin on his face without a single sign of fatigue.

"Have a nice nap?" he teased.

"Oh yeah, I dreamt that you weren't such a wise guy."

They both laughed quietly to themselves as everyone else rolled their eyes. It wasn't long before they reached the edge of the forest and traversed deeper into it.

"Hopefully we'll be able to find a water source somewhere close by. I only have enough to last me a day or so," Joe said as he picked a few berries from a nearby bush.

"I'm pretty sure I heard running water when I was looking around the field. It should be that way," TK said, pointing towards the setting sun.

"West it is," Matt declared, taking on the position as temporary leader without even having to say it out loud.

As they walked, they talked amongst themselves about their current lives. It was something to get their mind off of the task ahead of them. Getting to the Digital World was the easy part, at least for everyone besides Izzy. Finding Tai was like trying to find a needle in a very, very big haystack.

Matt walked at the front of the group, and took out a small dagger from his drawstring bag to clear a path through the thickness of the forest. Everyone else followed close behind him, with TK and Joe bringing up the rear of the group. The medical student's blue hair contrasted with the surroundings of the forest as he stopped once in a while to pick up some nuts or berries that he could see.

It didn't take long before they really could hear running water close by. The seven Digidestined picked up their pace slightly, and soon enough, they had reached a river.

"Looks like there's a small clearing that way. How about we set up camp there?" Matt proposed, and no objections were heard.

Setting up camp was simple for them, since they were so used to it from the first time they were in this world. They separated the tasks amongst themselves, and soon enough, they had finished making the clearing comfortable enough to eat and sleep in. Joe managed to catch some fish from the river, and Sora set up the fire. It wasn't long before supper was cooking and they didn't even have to use any of the emergency supplies they had brought.

"Oh!" Mimi exclaimed suddenly. She reached into her messenger bag and took out a few containers. They were all labeled intricately with unique designs, and most anyone could tell they were spices with just a mere glance. "When we were here the first time the food was always so bland, so I brought these for some flavor!"

"Mimi, what happened to packing lightly? I told you not to bring so much stuff," Izzy berated, unable to help himself.

"Well it's not like these take up that much room in my bag. And besides, spices can really boost your appetite and make traveling through the Digital World that much more bearable, thus raising group morale!" she finished sweetly.

And so, the red-headed genius was silenced.

"Can't argue with that," Kari joked.

"No kidding," Sora replied sarcastically.

After that, Mimi took over the cooking, absentmindedly humming to herself as she added a few spices and made sure nothing burnt. Once she taste tested her culinary masterpieces, she deemed it worthy for consumption and called everyone for a late supper.

They mostly ate in silence; the small talk was already over and done with. The group was too engrossed in their own thoughts until suddenly, Joe spoke up.

"I wonder what happened to our Digimon."

This simple statement caused everyone to stop eating, and they all looked down to the ground in silence. The only sound that could be heard was the fire still cracking in the middle of the circle that they had formed.

"I've actually been thinking about that," Izzy admitted, unknowingly breaking the awkward atmosphere with his thirst for knowledge. "Don't you think it was more than just a coincidence that right after we all gave up our crests that allowed our Digimon to digivolve into the ultimate level, some mysterious Digimon ambushes us? The likelihood of that is slim to none at best."

"My thoughts exactly," Matt said. "It was planned."

"It seemed like he was a mega level Digimon. All of our Digimon combined in the champion level couldn't defeat him," Sora said, biting the tip of her thumb.

"Right; it makes you wonder what happened after the gate closed," Joe said.

Kari was silent throughout the whole conversation, and her hands gripped the edge of her skirt in apprehension. TK noticed this from his spot beside her.

"I think our first course of action should be to gather information then," the blonde said. "The more we know about what happened that day, the better our chances are at finding Tai."

"I second that notion," Matt said.

And just like that, the gloomy topic was over and they began to eat again; this time with more conversation among the group. Even though they were still as lost as they were five minutes ago, they at least had a small semblance of a plan that they all agreed on. It was a start.

Later that night, when everyone had finished eating and had cleaned everything up in the river, they fell asleep under a blanket of stars. Matt immediately volunteered to take the first watch. He sat off to the side of the group, not wanting to listen to their snoring. Some things just never changed.

He looked around the area with keen eyes again and again. Matt made sure not to miss a single thing as he kept a lookout for anything and anyone that could potentially ambush them. Although, without their Digimon, it would be difficult to put up a defense even if they knew an attack was coming in advance. Still, the Digidestined would never go down without a fight, and they did their best to give themselves any chance they could get.

He heard a noise from the side and whipped his head around as he gripped the same dagger that he had used to clear the path through the forest. There was a shadow approaching, but Matt could already make out who it was from the silhouette.

"Sora, you should go back to bed," Matt said before he could even see her face clearly.

"I couldn't sleep," she said, and sat down beside him.

Sora smiled at him and he couldn't help but return the gesture. She looked up at the moon and stars in the sky, contemplative, but not troubled. She gently nudged Matt in the side.

"You okay?"

Matt blinked in surprise as he watched the slim figure beside him.

"I'm fine."

"No you're not."

He blinked again. Matt thought he had been doing a pretty good job at hiding his feelings; even TK hadn't noticed that anything was wrong with him. At least, his brother hadn't mentioned anything about it. Sora always had this uncanny ability to read him like a book, but he pushed that thought aside and figured that the truth was usually the best route to take.

"Just thinking about Tai," he confessed finally. "It's hard to believe he's been here for the past six years."

"I know what you mean," Sora said, losing the smile that had been gracing her lips earlier. Her expression turned melancholic as she switched her gaze from the sky to Matt.

"I don't think you do," Matt said softly. "I was there with him when the gate was about to close. I thought he was right behind me, but even before I left I had this terrible feeling that he wasn't gonna make it. I should've stayed behind or something…made sure that he would get to the gate safely."

"It wasn't your fault."

"I…I think it was," he said quietly, almost as though he were afraid of the words coming out of his mouth. "There wasn't even enough time to get to know him after we defeated the Dark Masters and went back to our world. Two years isn't enough time to spend with the best friend I've ever had in my life."

"There's never enough time with a friend like Tai; he's one of a kind," Sora added. "But that's why we're here now. We're going to find him, and we'll bring him back home with us no matter what," she finished, looking fiercely determined. There was a fire in her eyes that burned with conviction. The corner's of Matt's lips twitched and went up a little.

"You think so?"

"I know so."

Slowly, almost magically, they moved closer and closer to each other. Sora placed a hand on his cheek and Matt wrapped his arms around her as they moved in to…

"Did you hear that?" Matt asked, abruptly ending their moment together. The two young adults both looked in the direction of the sound, trying to see if there was anything out in the forest to confirm their thoughts.

Not wanting to take a chance with waiting, Sora broke apart their embrace and ran to the others to wake them up as Matt took out his dagger, hoping to whatever deities that existed in this world that it was a very friendly, very nice Digimon that didn't want to eat them.

No such luck.

Something tore through the ground across the river and ripped through everything in his path; a Snimon flew high into the air and swooped over their campsite. The force of the wind that came afterwards almost sent the Digidestined flying into the air, but fortunately they were all able to hold their ground.

"What do we do?!" Joe asked frantically, gripping his hair with his hands.

"Any ideas?!" Matt asked, looking around at the rest of the group. Everyone's eyes then landed on Izzy.

"Hey! Why are you all looking at me?! I spend all day looking at computer codes, not battle tactics against a giant praying mantis!"

"Water! Bugs hate water!" Kari shouted and ran for the river. Everyone else followed closely behind her. They were all waist deep in the freezing water, but it seemed to be working. Snimon didn't follow them in the river, but he was still circling above them in the air.

"Oh great, Snimon has long range attacks too," Sora remarked, remembering her last encounter with this particular type of Digimon. "I guess we'll have to get him before he decides to get us, but none of us will be strong enough to actually fight him."

"Oh!" Joe exclaimed all of a sudden. "I've got a flare in my bag!"

"Why'd you bring one of those? It's not like there'd be rescue planes in the Digital World," Matt joked, but silently thanked the med student for being so paranoid.

"I think it's safe to assume that he'll be the most vulnerable in the eyes and mouth…although I don't see any eyes on that thing," Izzy said. "Who's got good aim?"

It was only after Izzy asked this question did everyone turn their heads to TK.

"Uh…I throw orange balls into a perfectly harmless net that doesn't bite? Doesn't anyone besides me see a difference here?" TK tried to argue.

"But you're the best person we have for the job, and we need someone to run out of the river to get my bag and find the flare inside it first," Joe said casually as though he were reciting something out of his textbooks.

"Oh, well since you put it that way," TK said sarcastically. He took a deep breath. "Here goes nothing."

"You can do it, TK," Kari said softly beside him, and he nodded to her gratefully.

The Digidestined of Hope made his way to the edge of the river slowly, trying not to gain Snimon's attention. Unfortunately for him, Snimon did notice, so TK made a mad dash towards the campsite, practically faster than anyone had ever seen someone move. He distinguished the red cross on Joe's messenger bag immediately and grabbed it with one fell swoop.

Snimon was flying after him as TK ran into the forest carrying Joe's bag in his arms like a child. He opened it as he ran, not noticing as some food and medical supplies flew out and crashed to the ground behind him. He rummaged through it, trying to locate the flare, and after he threw out the large hoodie that was blocking everything from his view, he found it.

TK abruptly dropped the bag on the dirt beneath him and turned around in time to see Snimon on his tail. The blonde waited a few seconds longer until he was close enough. With a single motion, he yanked the pull-string that was poking out of the side of the flare and fired it directly at Snimon's mouth.

The intense heat and light from the combustion in the flare was completely inhaled by the insect Digimon and Snimon stopped in its tracks entirely. Noticing that the red stick in his hands was still firing, TK literally ran up to the giant praying mantis and approached him as though he were about to perform a power lay-up. He threw it directly into his mouth and bolted away without looking back.

Unfortunately, the plan didn't exactly work. He only delayed the insect as Snimon quickly regained its composure and went chasing after TK. Hopefully, he'd be able to outrun the bug before he reached the river since he already had a head start.

"Hey ugly! Over here!" Matt shouted from a distance. The elder brother had gone after TK, concerned at how long he was taking.

Snimon stopped chasing TK and hovered in the air, most likely pondering which brother to go after. The sound from his wings grew louder, and he flew straight towards Matt as TK and the others could only watch helplessly as Snimon released a Twin Sickles attack at their temporary leader.

"Matt!" TK shouted hysterically.

Before anyone knew it, a powerful flaming projectile rammed into Snimon, and the giant green insect crashed into the trees behind him. When the bug Digimon untangled himself from the branches, Snimon quickly flew away, not wanting to get in the way of whoever had attacked him.

Matt, having closed his eyes shut earlier, was wondering why he wasn't in heaven yet (or hell, he supposed), so he opened his eyes. Snimon was no longer attacking them, and loud footsteps came in the other direction. He gulped.

An extremely large humanoid figure appeared from the shadows wearing nothing but black pants and leather straps around his left wrist. It was the first friendly face they had seen in what seemed like a life time.

"Leomon!" Matt exclaimed.


Author's Notes:

I've got the main plot and most of the key events figured out for this story, and I doubt it'll be anything very big. It'll most likely be ten-ish chapters? I'm setting a smaller goal for myself this time so that I'll be more likely to actually finish it...I hope.

I'm trying my best to incorporate each character equally, so please tell me if you feel like someone in the group is being left out. I also hope the pacing is okay. I don't want to overwhelm you guys with too much information all at once, but at the same time, I don't want to make you guys feel lost either. Constructive criticism on these two areas and anything else you can think of is very much appreciated.

Please review!