Taichi woke up with grass in his mouth. He spat out the grass. He was dirty. He tried to use his hands to wipe away the grass, but they stung and rocks fell into his mouth from them.

"Hikari?" Taichi called.

Did he and Hikari end up in the park? Taichi hoped she wasn't hurt.

Hikari did not answer.

"Hikari!" He fell trying to stand. His trembled in pain. He felt tears. "Hikari, where are you?"

Taichi stood. His body ached. He felt feathers fall off his shoulder. Had the bird lost some?He wiped his eyes. He shook and cried harder. Soon, his vision cleared. He looked down at his hands.

The mark on his hand now had a form. A ball with strings wrapped around it it. Lines from those strings went down to his wrist and began to go up his fingers. They were dark, and shone through the dried blood. And the - his mama had called that scabbing last time he had gotten a bandaid for a scrape.

Taichi's throat burned. He began to cough. Feathers flew up from under his arms. He spat out fire. It landed near his toes.

Taichi screamed and scrambled back. He struggled to get up. The fire caught the grass on fire. He turned and ran. He brushed past some trees before he remembered he had lost Hikari.

Taichi stopped and called, "Hikari?"

Taichi looked around. He stood at the edge of a forest. His ears twitched - Taichi winced at their movement. He heard…something. Far away. He couldn't tell what it was, just that it was making noise.

Taichi felt his heart quicken. His throat burned again. He forced himself to swallow. He burped smoke.

"What - am I…dreaming?"

A dream! He smiled. He had never realized he was in a dream before; what could he do now that he knew he was in a dream? Maybe fly?

Taichi flapped his arms. He saw they were feathered, but he didn't fly. He just made a mess. Feathers stuff in his hair and clothes. Taichi huffed and sat down.

He burped small flames. He sneezed when smoke went up his nose. He rubbed his nose. His hands felt rough. Taichi scratched at his arms. He felt the feathers drooping down.

Maybe I need to jump from up high, Taichi thought.

Feathers poked Taichi's legs and bottom. He heard the noise again. He rubbed his ears. Something…breaking…closer he thought. Was it the same sound as before?

Taichi's stomach growled. He rubbed his stomach. He should be able to summon food. Taichi closed his eyes. He squeezed them tight.

Give me a bowl of rice, Taichi thought. With, um…anything!

Taichi opened his eyes again. There was no rice. Taichi huffed. He looked around. His face lit up and he reached out. Big mushrooms were growing beneath one of the trees. Taichi tugged one free.

Do I need to cook them? Taichi frowned. He coughed some smoke. Oh! I can cook them!

Taichi concentrated and felt like he was trying to throw up. He held the mushroom close to his mouth. He spewed out flames.

"Ow!" Taichi dropped the mushroom and shook his hand. It felt burned, and the fire went out. Taichi felt a shiver.

Pain…? But…I felt it before. What a weird dream. Taichi blinked as his stomach growled again.

"Just…low on energy," Taichi said. "…Like, playing soccer, um…But in a dream!"

Taichi shoved the mushroom into his mouth. He chewed quickly and swallowed. He heard a roar and his name. Taichi looked around, but he everything went blurry. His head hurt and then he collapsed.

"Taichi!" Greymon roared.

Taichi floated amongst numbers. He saw Greymon, then Agumon, then Koromon, then Botamon. Then an egg. Then the egg in a computer. He blinked.

What had he been looking at? Taichi frowned and looked around.

He saw his classmates, in class and playing. One tossed him a soccer ball. They vanished. Taichi caught the soccer ball. He frowned at it. What was it for? Then it was gone.

He saw Hikari become a baby, and then she vanished. His parents milled around. Then his parents vanished. Taichi thought he should cry, but he didn't remember why. He only saw the numbers.

He heard a final whisper.

"Taichi."

But he didn't know the name.

The boy woke up up. He felt a hand on his head. Gloved fingers brushed through his hair. He opened his eyes.

He couldn't see what was above him for a moment. There was only darkness with green…numbers. He blinked, and he saw -

"Who are you?" The face blinked as its hair brushed against the boy's head. The gloved hand dropped to the boy's chin. "Do I need to repeat myself?"

The boy frowned. He gripped the grass.

"I…I don't know," the boy admitted.

The face leaned up. It moved a hand towards the boy.

"Is this yours?" the face asked.

An object fell down. It swung on a string. The boy watched it. It gleamed when sunlight hit it. The boy shifted in the grass. He watched the thing swing.

"I don't…know," he answered.

The winced. He lifted up a hand. It burned, and a mark glowed. It was bright before it darkened to an almost black color. The face leaning above him watched, and made a noise.

"Darkness…Is that what you are?"

The boy looked up. His eyes were wet.

"I am Wizardmon." Wizardmon held out a hand.

The boy grabbed Wizardmon with his burning hand. The burning went away. The mark on his hand had dark lines burst out. The boy watched it wrap around his wrist, and then Wizardmon's wrist.

The boy squeaked. Wizardmon made no noise. The darkness faded.

"You're not a digimon," Wizardmon said. "Or…"

"Not really?" the boy finished.

Wizardmon blinked. "And you really don't remember…"

The boy looked around the world. The…Digital World. Wizardmon knew that, so he knew that. He frowned. He didn't know it before…did he?

"Kamiya-mon," Wizardmon said. "That is your name now."

"Why?"

"Only digimon live here."

The boy nodded. He could feel that was true. He frowned.

"But…I'm not - "

"A digimon," Wizardmon said. "I don't know what you are. I can feel - you will be able to be a digimon. You already kind of are."

The boy frowned, and Wizardmon brushed at the feather in the boy's arms. And then he tapped sharp teeth in the boy's mouth.

"I can help you," Wizardmon.

"Okay…So…Kamiya-mon," Kamiya-mon said. He smiled at Wizardmon. His teeth pressed against his lips.

They finally released hands. Kamiya-mon almost dropped his hand. Wizardmon dropped the object he had had before.

"Keep it," Wizardmon said. "It might help us."

"Okay." Kamiya-mon held it close to his mouth. It made a noise when he blew on it. He stuck it in his mouth and made a loud noise.

"…That's new."

Kamiya-mon blushed. He pulled the object out of his mouth. "Sorry…"

"It's fine, come one." Wizardmon put his hand on Kamiya-mon's back. "Let's go."

Kamiya-mon gripped the object in his hand. Wizardmon led him deeper into the forest. He would be a good digimon. He felt Wizardmon grin in their minds. He looked down at the mark.

Darkness, Kamiya-mon thought. I will be a Digimon of Darkness.

Kamiya-mon didn't know what that meant, but he would be a good digimon. He could feel Wizardmon's heart. He was afraid of something here, and one day Kamiya-mon would be strong enough to help.

One day, Kamiya-mon thought. I'll…

Kamiya-mon gripped the object in his hand. His mark, his crest - the word reverberated between him and Wizardmon - thrummed against the object.