"For… Tai, how long have we been flying already?"

"The hell do I know, Davis?"

Even though the both of them were on ExVeemon's arms, Tai and Davis were loud enough for everyone to hear, even though T.K. and Pegasusmon were ahead of them. Stingmon and Ken were leading, although he could probably hear the incessant fighting of Tai and Davis. In all fairness, they had been flying for an unrealistically long amount of time, although there was no way of seeing how much, as no electronic device worked. They kept following the strange trail caused by Ken's D-3, hoping it'd lead them anywhere. At least, they could still see it.

"Do you think we'll see land, T.K.?"

"Oh? We should… I mean… why not?"

"We haven't in a long time now"

"Kari has to be somewhere. There has to be an island."

"If you think so, so will I"

Pegasusmon meant nothing bad with that, but it was impossible not to think the worst. If Ken's D-3 had lead them there, that meant Kari was in the Dark Sea, at the very least… but she could be underwater. She could be dead.

"Hope, damn it, hope". He had to believe. It was his crest. Izzy's theory, Ken's D-3… It had to lead somewhere. Kari… finding her wasn't as important as knowing she was alright. The monsters from the Dark Sea had already kidnapped her in the past, they wanted her back… If any of them had dared to touch her, they'd destroy them. It would be unforgivable.

He was feeling hungry. Matt and his father would've eaten already… if everything had gone right he would've gone with Kari to eat somewhere. He'd crack a couple of unfunny jokes and she'd laugh anyways. Her laugh, her look, her touch… he needed her back. He was going to do anything. Even if he had to take on both Daemon and Dragomon, he'd get her back.

"Pegasusmon, we're going to save Kari no matter what, understood?"

"What do you mean?"

"We aren't going to hesitate. If anyone stands in our way, we can't have second thoughts. Anyone who has done this doesn't deserve any mercy"

"Don't worry, T.K. I'll save Kari and Gatomon no matter what. If any Dark Digimon wants to face me, I'll make him regret it"

Ever since Patamon was taken away from him, he had never forgiven the powers of Darkness. He wasn't going to let them take Kari too.

The wait was unbearable. He was hungry and tired, but couldn't eat nor fall asleep. He was terrified of losing Kari forever, but this was their best option, and it wasn't leading them anywhere. And they still hadn't seen any other island. Davis kept complaining out of frustration, and Tai was angry. Ken remained silent. What had he seen that had shocked him so much? Everything that had happened to him… no one should have to go through that.

"T.K. … We're not going to be able to keep doing this for long. I'm getting exhausted. ExVeemon and Stingmon can't be much better. This is getting us nowhere"

"We can't go back now"

"T.K…. forcing us to do more than what we can won't bring Kari back"

"Pegasusmon what are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about"

"But… Pegasusmon…"

"I know what you're going through… but you have to understand we all miss Kari. It won't help her if we get ourselves killed just to find her"

"What then, Pegasusmon? What do we do? Do we go back? Do we return to the Real World? There's only one way to solve this and it's going forward!"

He could notice a few tears. Both of them were right. But if they went back… they were just giving whoever had Kari more time. The mental image made him sick. Pegasusmon didn't reply. It wasn't an argument any of them wanted to have. He simply rested his head against his, and hoped for everything to get better.

The stress made it impossible to sleep. The Dark Sea was a terrible place. Everything was grey, everything was always the same. It was impossible to tell how much time passed, and the monotony of it all only made it worse. Tai and Davis weren't being noisy, for once, but now it was Agumon, who was saying he was complaining about being hungry.

He almost felt like puking once he focused on the sea. The complete lack of wind or sealife made it a terribly boring sight. At least, looking at Stingmon he could see his wings moving.

He remembered talking with Kari a bit about her experience in the Dark Sea. She told him that its biggest weapon was its effect on your mind. He had seen her despaired when he first saw her on it. And the way Ken had freaked out… maybe the Dark Sea was affecting him by boring him to death, as all his worries were completely natural. As for Tai… he probably was the same. It was just making Davis louder.

Even more time passed, following their only clue, but it was leading them nowhere. His entire body felt sore, due to having spent… a terribly long amount of time on Pegasusmon's back. He was hungry and needed to drink something. They should've picked something to eat. If he knew it would've taken so long… He was still wearing custom made pants and shirt. He felt ridiculous. They weren't even good clothes just… expensive for the sake of expensive. And they were definitely not meant to be worn for that long, to sleep with them, and least of all to ride a winged horse for what seemed like days already. The sleeves were definitely off. They were way too tight except at the wrist, and it had some awful patterns. What the hell was he thinking about?

"Kari, of course"

He thought it'd impress her. She'd see he cared about her by seeing just how important a mundane event like her eating at her father's was. Maybe she'd think of him like a clown. When she entered though the door, he could use a funny line to make her laugh. That'd be funny… Why was he thinking about that again? That dinner didn't matter at all.

"T.K., what are you thinking about?"

"Oh… nothing"

"Why do you lie to me? You're still awful at lying. Always have, always will be"

"That's very rude"

"Come on. It'll help you to speak out loud"

"Fine… I was thinking about what I'd have told Kari when she got home"

"Aw, that's sweet"

"Heh… It's also pointless"

"You could use that line when you rescue her, ironically. Something like "Wow, you are very late!""

"No… I was thinking something more related to my clothes"

"Oh… I got one! "Sorry""

T.K. chuckled. Pegasusmon was still Patamon. That wouldn't change.

"I think I'll go for something simple. "Sorry I was late. I was working as a clown"

The two of them laughed. It was good to do it. To get rid of terrible images, even if just for a bit. Then, Pegasusmon stopped. Stingmon and Ken weren't moving anymore.

"Ken?"

"There"

He pointed to the horizon. There, finally, they saw an island.

"Let's go, Pegasusmon. Let's go save Kari. Once and for all"