Hey! Sorry this took so long to write. I could come up with a bunch of excuses but they'd be really lame so I hope there are still people who want to read! Hopefully the next few chapters won't take so long. Disclaimer: I don't own digimon. Enjoy!
The night fell upon them as it always did in the Digital World: completely and instantaneously. Takato blinked, and then suddenly it was pitch black and he could barely see his friends five feet in front of him. It made him anxious, because it was already night and he did not know where Guilmon could be.
They made the executive decision to camp out in the spot where they found Lopmon and Calumon. Takato agreed, begrudgingly, because he knew the reasons; it was cold, dark, and they were lost. The cyclone, although worth it to find their friends, had blown them completely off course. They had enough digimon to protect them through the night, so Henry reassured everybody that they were safe and had nothing to worry about. But Takato's worry was not focused on sleeping out in the open. His promise to Guilmon hung out in front of him, tempting him to slip away and find Guilmon on his own. One look at Jeri, though, and he knew he had to stay. Together was their best bet.
After passing out some food and creating a fire, the little ones promptly fell asleep. The bigger kids sat around the fire in silence. Soon Kazu was snoring contentedly and Kenta was cuddled up with MarineAngemon. Ryo, who had spent a while in the Digital World before, had fallen asleep as well. Henry, Rika, and Takato remained to stare into the fire. Eventually, the silence began pressing against his eardrums.
"I'm going to check on Suzie and the other kids," Henry said abruptly, and stood to see his sister. Rika stretched and sighed, leaning on her fist which was propped up on her leg. Takato thought she looked as worried as he felt.
"Don't worry, gogglehead. We'll find them soon" she said with the smile that Takato had come to know and appreciate. As sarcastic and cold Rika could seem, she was just as warm and caring beneath that cool exterior.
"I know," he said, and he believed it. "I just wish we had seen them already. Especially since we have no idea where they are. Or even where we are." She pursed her lips, and apparently could not find an answer, because she told Takato to go to sleep instead.
The ground was hard, and Takato was laying directly on a rock that was too deeply lodged in the dirt to get rid of. He moved to his side, using his backpack as a pillow. He closed his eyes and, even though his anxiety was almost palpable to the others, he drifted off to sleep.
He woke up with a jolt to the sound of rustling leaves. In a panic, he sat upright, expecting an attack. He, however, saw Ryo and Rika packing up the campsite. Suzie was carrying around Lopmon and Calumon was seated on top of Jeri's head. Takato didn't move or speak, hoping the panic would soon subside.
"Welcome to consciousness, chumly," Kazu said when he noticed Takato. Then his smile dropped. "Are you feeling alright?" Takato put his hand on his neck, which was feeling pretty stiff.
"Yeah, just...slept funny," Takato answered. It was a good enough answer for Kazu, who nodded and walked back to Guardromon, ranting about having to sleep in the dirt. He stood up and stretched, hoping to wake up his limbs and get his energy flowing again. He mindlessly nibbled on some bread for breakfast ("Is bread all we have?" Kenta whined) and tied his shoes and was ready to move out.
"We're in the Digital World," Ryo was saying to Kenta. "If you don't want to eat bread, then just stop being hungry. You don't have to eat here, remember?"
"Yeah, but I really like to eat, so its hard to forget about it" Kenta complained. The group looked around at their campsite and, content that they had cleaned up to the best of their ability, moved out. Lopmon was giving suggestions as to where they should walk, since they figured she would know how to find Azulongmon's realm and potentially the rest of their partners.
Takato silently took a tally of what they had accomplished during this trip so far. We found three out of seven partners, Calumon, and a Gazimon. Then he remembered that the Gazimon got separated from them when they went through the tornado, and suddenly felt guilty and upset. That Gazimon was counting on them for protection, and they failed. He brought this up to the group, so they could help share the guilt.
"Worry not, Takato! That Gazimon made their choice about joining us into the tornado. They willingly separated from us, and understood the risks. Try to push it out of your mind for now," Guardromon exclaimed. Takato found his words reassuring, but still felt bad for not noticing until that moment. He knew that he was preoccupied with finding Guilmon, but that did not excuse his air-headedness.
He wondered how Rika, Henry, and Ryo were holding up. They had to be at least worried as he was. Then his mind turned towards Jeri and how she was reacting. She might have been alright with the idea of finding everybody's partners, but Takato wondered whether the reality of it might make her miss Leomon, which he was afraid would trigger her, and he just wanted her to be happy.
Jeri turned her head and gave him a weird look, as though saying "What are you looking at?" He had not even noticed that he was staring at her. He felt blood rush to his face as he turned away, hoping she did not notice his obviously red cheeks. One time, he attempted to tell Jeri how he felt about her, but it ended up being the D-Reaper's agent version of Jeri. Part of him was relieved that the embarrassment of that exchange was technically non-existent. Another part of him wanted to try again, this time with the real Jeri. He wondered whether the first conversation was a sign from some higher power, telling him not to try again.
Luckily, he was spared from thinking more about this topic, as the group had reached a village that sat along a riverbank. Takato noticed that many, if not all, the buildings looked almost new, and several of them were unfinished. He witnessed a wide assortment of digimon moving bricks and wooden planks and other building necessities. Many of the digimon looked forlorn and upset, as if their entire livelihoods had been taken away and they were in the process of repairing something that could not truly be fixed.
"This was the aftermath of the battle with the D-Reaper," Lopmon whispered sadly. "Almost the entire Digital World was deleted, and practically everything needs to be replaced. This village looks like it's coming along nicely; many of the other villages I've visited and helped were much worse." The look of everybody was the same; a mixture of pity and empathy. Suzie squeezed Lopmon and commented on how sad they were, and Ai and Mako were holding hands, probably trying to comfort the other.
Takato, Rika, and Jeri walked up to the nearest digimon, who looked like a wooden puppet vaguely reminiscent of Pinocchio. He had the aura of an older person, who was, hopefully, wise and kind.
"Hello," Jeri said as they approached. "We're the Digimon Tamers."
"Of course, of course!" he nodded, and Rika beckoned to their friends to join them. "Thank you for defeating that cursed data eater!"
"It was our pleasure," Rika replied with a respectful head bow. "You haven't seen our partners around here recently have you?"
"Afraid not. Nobody has stopped by in a while, not since before our village was destroyed." Takato knew not to get his hopes up, but was still crushed at the revelation. "You folks looking for something to eat? We don't have much, but we're happy to share!"
"Yes, I am so over bread!" Kenta exclaimed, earning him a punch to the gut from Rika. He winced and held his stomach while gasping.
"We have provisions," Jeri explained. "We don't want to take anything from you. Is there anything we can help with you though? We would be happy to stay for a while and do anything we can to speed up work!" Takato resented this a little, but mostly he agreed with Jeri. He wanted to help rebuild the Digital World.
"No, no," Puppetmon waved away their offer. "We are almost done here; after months of hard work, we are going to reap our rewards. However, if you stumble upon a village worse off than ours, they may require your assistance." The group nodded and wished the digimon luck and good fortune before Lopmon pointed in a direction and they began to walk.
After a stretch of silence, Henry spoke up.
"Lopmon...is everything really like that village?" he asked tentatively. Takato thought they all knew the answer to that question, and were afraid of it.
"Worse," the small bunny replied sadly. "The D-Reaper did a lot of damage before we were able to stop it." The thought of the D-Reaper reminded Takato of how the tumbleweed things at the desert were eating data. Desperate not to make a sad situation worse, he resolved to bring it up after they had located the rest of their partners. "And there have been...other problems." That caught everybody's attention.
"What do you mean?" Rika asked, confused.
"A lot of bad digimon began plundering the helpless villages, stealing treasures and needlessly causing destruction," Lopmon said. "Its why Calumon, MarineAngemon, Guardromon, and myself were out scouting. We've been charged with protecting the villages from these marauders."
They stopped talking and took that in. Takato was, at first, confused, but then his confusion grew into anger. Why would anybody, digital or not, take advantage of people like that? It was not fair and the injustice of it made his blood boil.
"Uhm...Lopmon?" Kenta said hesitantly. He was looking beyond the valley they were walking in. Takato noticed that Ryo was staring intently at his digivice. "Do these 'marauders' usually carry potato sacks?"
"What are you talking about?" Rika demanded with increasing worry. She ran to Kenta's side and peered down. The rest of the group followed, except for Ryo, who was still looking quizzically at his digivice. Takato saw a bunch of digimon running, carrying large sacks and weapons. He could not make out what kinds of digimon there were, but he did come to an unsettling conclusion.
"Thats the direction of the village!" he exclaimed. "They're going to destroy the village, right after they finally were so close to finishing!" Everybody else gasped with understanding. There was no way that they could beat that pack to the village. Apparently Rika came to the same conclusion.
"There is no way we can get back there in time," she said. She was clutching her digivice, and Takato knew she was thinking that, as Sakuyamon, she would have no trouble getting there on her own. "We can't help them!"
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about it," Ryo said, finally taking his eyes off his digivice. "I've got it covered." He took his digivice in hand and raised it towards the sky. It began to glow brightly, a beacon of light calling out. Takato realized what must be happening.
"Cyberdramon!"