My dad blocked fanfiction.

x.X

Hence the reason why I couldn't update. Apparently it interfered with school work.

It probably did. Hehe, sorry about that.

On the plus side, I now have a bunch of new chapters to read. However, I'm going to be mean, and only post one for the moment. The reason being that I'm going to start sticking to a new schedule, updating my stories once a week on Monday. Now, I'm doing this so that I don't have any more long gaps like I did because of this past time. Seeing as the story isn't done, I don't want to post all the chapters at once, and then have you wait a long time again. This way, you'll always know when each new chapter will be coming out. ;D

Now, this chapter is kinda short. But the reason is that I had to end it with Rika's reaction. Know what I mean? But the rest are normal length. I just didn't have much to write for this chapter.

Disclaimer: …Meh. I think the point's gotten across already.

Chapter 6

No sign of her. It had been two weeks, and still no sign of her. Sighing with frustration, Ryo leaned against the trunk of the tree and surveyed the forest he rested in. Cyberdramon, as always, stood on guard next to him.

He wondered what everyone at home was thinking. It had been two weeks, and he still hadn't managed to find Rika. But who was he kidding? Rika was somewhere in the digital world. She could be anywhere in this blasted place. It may take him years to find her.

Ryo grimaced. He shouldn't think like that. He'd find her. He had to. Thinking back to a few days ago, he remembered his encounter with a Mothmon in a Wormmon village. He had asked questions to the digimon like he did with all he met (that didn't try to kill him), and surprisingly enough, he'd gotten some information.

Rika and Renamon had passed through several days ago. So now, he was trying to track her down.

But he'd come up with nothing. The search was fruitless. She could have gone anywhere after leaving the Mothmon. And he hadn't found any other digimon whom she'd talked to.

Getting up, he stretched out his arms and back and nodded to Cyberdramon. His partner tilted his head to show he understood, then fell in step behind Ryo as the tamer began to stroll once more through the forest.

Wordless exchanges. Ryo and Cyberdramon knew each other so well that they hardly ever needed to speak, to know what the other wanted. Over a year in the digital world alone together would do that to you.

This being so, Cyberdramon understood Ryo's worry for Rika. Understood the reason why he cared so much about the redhead being missing, and was so quick to volunteer to head back to the digital world, with no guidance as to her whereabouts.

They didn't need to discuss it. It was a fact that both knew, a knowledge that was undisclosed to anyone else.

Ryo's eyes rested on the horizon as they continued walking. He'd find her. He knew would. It was only a matter of time.

…

So much time! Her feet were sore, her legs were sore, her whole body was sore! And the cold! The insane, icy, never-ending cold that bit her exposed skin and made her numb. Her arms hugged her chest and her teeth chattered in her mouth as she walked through the snow-covered landscape, flakes swirling around her and Renamon.

Renamon was worried about Rika. As they trekked through the white landscape, she kept her eyes trained on her tamer. The redhead pretended like nothing was wrong, that she was fine, that the cold didn't bother her.

But her act didn't fool Renamon one bit. She could see the nearly imperceptible shaking of her limbs, the way she held herself, trying to bring maximum warmth to her body.

For the umpteenth time, Renamon fervently thanked Jeri inside her mind for giving Rika that scarf, because without it, Renamon was sure her tamer would have suffered a lot more. But she was still suffering badly now.

Takato's shirt gift to Rika was, thankfully, long-sleeved. But the thin material did little to protect the girl from the bitter frost that clung to her very being.

"That's it." Renamon halted, and grabbed Rika's shoulder, to force her to stop as well.

Annoyed, Rika turned to face her partner. "What?" she asked, fighting to stop her teeth from chattering.

"We need to rest. We'll find a cave, and then we'll find a way out of this frozen desert. Understand?" Renamon stood her ground in front of Rika, expecting an argument.

"Okay," was the simple reply. Renamon blinked in surprise. Okay? Okay? Rika didn't agree to things like that so passively.

This was more serious than she had thought.

Without a second thought, Renamon scooped Rika up in her arms, once more expecting a protest and getting none. Rika didn't want to answer with a retort. She was too tired. Too cold. Resting in Renamon's arms, her eyes began to shut, alarming Renamon even more.

"Rika, stay awake," the fox-like digimon commanded.

Groaning, Rika blinked open her eyes and glowered up at Renamon. "Why?" she snapped, though her voice lacked its normal energy.

Renamon just shook her head. She didn't have the time to explain to Rika that by sleeping, she would only succumb to the cold, and her body would be in even more danger.

Sleep would have to wait.

Beginning to run, Renamon set off through the snowy fields.

It was only three days back that they'd come here. It was just a large, grassy plain, with hills and caves lining the landscape. Harmless. They'd set out to cross it, on their journey with no end, when it hit. A freak snowstorm, out of nowhere. In less than two hours, the entire expanse was covered in snow. They began to backtrack, but the place they'd come from had disappeared under the white blanket as well.

Determined, they began to walk through the snow. What else could they do? There was nowhere else to go. Cold was in every direction. Once more, they placed their fate in the hands of luck.

Luck seemed not to be in their favor.

After a day, Rika was beginning to weaken. She didn't need food or drink, being in the digital world, but cold affected her as it would have in the real world. It numbed her, sapped her strength, stole her breath. She needed to rest. To sleep, to recover from the hard day's journey.

The first night was okay. They'd sheltered in a small cave, Renamon building a fire to warm Rika, and sitting guard all night. But the second night, after finding a similar cave and going through the same routine, Renamon couldn't wake Rika up in the morning.

She had begun to panic. No matter how much she shook Rika, the tamer refused to wake. Her lips had been tinged with blue, and when Renamon felt her hand, it was ice-cold. The fire hadn't been strong enough to keep her warm.

With this thought in mind, Renamon did her best to warm Rika up. She wrapped Rika in her arms, let the warmth from her fur seep into the young girl, and at last she had woken up, and they'd set out on their journey.

And now, with Rika, defenseless, in her arms, Renamon feared that if she were to sleep, she would never wake up again. That the cold would drag her from this world and leave only her body, a shell of what she used to be.

Renamon was lucky. With her thick fur, and the fact that she was a digimon, she found that the cold didn't affect her terribly. It was more of a nuisance, but not life-threatening. Like it was to Rika.

There. Renamon spotted a niche in a hillside and immediately began to head towards it. Head down against the wind and snow flurrying around her, she pushed doggedly onwards, Rika held tight to her chest.

Finally, she reached the niche, and burst inside, having to dig out a bit of snow to clear an entrance first. Laying Rika down, Renamon set to work building a fire.

Only after the fire was built did she think to check on Rika. Naturally, Rika was fast asleep.

Renamon took a couple of deep breaths. She wasn't going to panic. In fact, she was known for keeping a level head in almost all situations.

Gently rubbing Rika's shoulder, Renamon called out her tamer's name. "Rika. Rika, wake up."

No response. Renamon shook Rika harder and spoke louder. "Rika. Wake up. NOW." Still no response.

It was only then that she noticed how utterly pale Rika was. Her skin was white, with shades of blue in some parts, and icy to the touch. "RIKA!" Renamon shouted. For the first time in a long time, Renamon began to panic. "RIKA!" she yelled, holding Rika's shoulders and jerking her back and forth. Her head just lolled listlessly to the side.

Wrapping her arms around Rika, Renamon hugged her tamer and kept her as close to the fire without physically burning her as she could.

"Please wake up," Renamon whispered to her tamer, staring bleakly at the empty air around her. "Please."

…

At the moment, Rika wasn't so much concerned as to where she was, but who she was with. The last thing she'd remembered was falling asleep in a snowstorm, and now she was in the same grassy meadow that the place used to be before the digital world went all weird and turned it into a snow valley.

However, it wasn't Renamon by her side.

It was Ryo.

WHY was it Ryo? Rika had no idea.

No matter how much she tried to run away from him, he was always there, around every rock and corner and tree. "Stop following me!" she yelled, exasperated and slightly freaked out.

Ryo just shook his head. "I have to protect you," he said.

Rika snorted. "Renamon protects me. Not you. Now leave, Akiyama."

Again he shook his head. "But I don't want to." And then, he leaned forward towards Rika's face, causing her to jerk backwards. "What are you doing?" she screeched in shock.

He looked hurt. "But isn't that what you wanted?"

"OF COURSE NOT!" Rika yelled, backing away from Ryo. "Leave me alone!" She turned and fled in the opposite direction, only to run smack into Ryo, who had somehow appeared in front of her.

He grabbed her shoulders. "Rika. You're not getting away from me," he said, then, to Rika's horror, his form began to change, until he looked like an extension of the D-Reaper, his skin purple and strange, his eyes snake-like and yellow, his hands turned to claws.

"LET ME GO!" Rika screamed, breaking free from his grasp and attempting to run away again, only to hit a wall. Looking up and around her, she realized with panic that the grass meadow had become a valley, with walls hemming her in on all sides. She stared in horror as red goop began to seep over the walls and into the bowl.

It was the D-Reaper.

Spinning around, she stood, back against the wall, as Ryo came closer. No, she had to stop calling him Ryo. Because no matter how much she hated the guy, this wasn't Ryo, but the D-Reaper. As the Ryo-Reaper came closer, Rika held her fists out in front of her and set her legs in a defensive stance. When it reached a claw out to her, she smacked it away.

It hissed in pain and glared daggers at her. "Riiiika. That wassssn't niceeee. It'sss meee, Ryooo."

"You're not Ryo!" Rika yelled back defiantly.

"Hooow do you knooowww?" it asked, its voice sibilant and cold.

Rika froze, then answered, "Because I know Ryo. He would never do something like this. None of this is real! I don't belong here! RENAMON!"

"Rika!" Renamon's voice was faint, but Rika jerked her head upwards when she heard her partner's voice. "Renamon?"

"Rika, wake up!"

Rika looked around her, at the D-Reaper oozing down the valley walls and at the Ryo-Reaper. Closing her eyes, she pictured herself in the real world…well, digital world. Wake up, she thought to herself. Wake up.

"Rika, please wake up!"

Moaning, Rika blinked open her eyes to see Renamon's worried face hovering over her. The face broke into a smile. "Rika, you're awake! Oh, thank goodness!"

"Renamon?" Rika asked weakly. "Is this the real world?"

Renamon smiled. "Yes, Rika. Yes, it is. And look." Gesturing, Renamon pointed with her arm to the outside of the cave, which was now a green meadow. "The snow disappeared as quickly as it came. Rest, and then we'll continue our journey."

"Sounds good," Rika replied, before sinking back into a much more restful sleep.

…

Ryo and Cyberdramon stood at the edge of a large green meadow, with various hills dotting the landscape and, upon closer observation, caves as well. He glanced at Cyberdramon. "Wanna look through here?"

Cyberdramon growled in response.

Ryo shrugged. "Yeah, I think so too. This's as good a place as any."

With that, they both set off into the plain.

…

Five hours later was when everything came together.

Ryo and Cyberdramon were walking through the field when they saw, in the distance, a bright yellow figure and a smaller, red-headed figure, walking out of a cave in a hill.

Ryo stopped in shock, then began to run forward, laughing exuberantly. He'd found her!

…

Now that Rika was feeling better, she insisted on getting moving. Renamon agreed, albeit reluctantly. Rika was in unusually high spirits. After her freaky nightmare, she was happy to just be back in a somewhat normal world.

Naturally, Renamon was confused when Rika checked back over her shoulder and stopped dead, staring into the distance. "Kill me," she commanded to Renamon.

Startled, Renamon looked at her tamer. What brought that on? Following Rika's gaze, Renamon looked out into the distance to see what had upset her partner so badly.

Two figures were running towards them. One had spiky brown hair and a red bandana, and the other resembled a dragon, with a silver, metal head.

Rika could only stare in shock as the two came closer, and Renamon heard her mutter under her breath again.

"Kill me now."

…

So yes, the two are finally going to meet up. This was a bit of a filler chapter, if you couldn't tell, but now the story should pick up the pace, seeing that Rika and Ryo are about to meet up. Sparks will fly, people.

MegaHog14: Thank you so much for being such a loyal reader and reviewer! Unfortunately, I'm afraid (though it wasn't necessarily all my fault) that I took far too much time in writing. It's just…you know, real life comes first. If I could access at the time, I would have updated, but it would've been really irregular and probably might have resulted in a long hiatus anyways.

GuyWithNoTalent: First off, I hardly doubt your username is true, and when I read your stories, I bet it'll be proved wrong. Secondly, I'm glad I had such good timing, even if it's been skewed ever since the release of chapter five. And yeah, my story hasn't gotten much publicity, but the fact that I have a few people reviewing is good enough for me. ;)

As always, if you see any typos, please tell me, and be sure to review!