Warning for ptsd, implied murder, violence, swearing, and harm of children.

Chapter Fourteen: It's Our Choices, Harry

V.V. watched Rina from where he sat on a nearby stump, watched her shimmy up trees like she was born to like she was made to. Meat apples hit the basket she carried along with the dirt, followed by leaves and small, unnamed insects. All of it crashed indiscriminately downward one way or another. "Fergus will be mad you're raiding the dead." Not that any of it belonged to the dead anymore. It was a city maintained orchard anyway. They could scold her but she would do what she wanted and no one would, or reasonably could stop her.

"Then someone should come here and take care of the orchard." She sounded amused, but V.V. knew she actually just didn't care. "He has other things to worry about, like being kicked around by the resident nice guy."

V.V. let out a laugh. "Yeah, that's true." He stretched his short limbs. "Is this really necessary though?"

"You heard the kitty!" Rina jumped to another tree, dangling by her arms. "We have to be ready to leave at any time."

"What about the others?"

"What about them?" She sounded calm or maybe puzzled if he stretched it.

"You're attached to them. You can't just leave."

"I can easily be unattached though!" She hopped down and peered at V.V., their identical red eyes reflecting each other and his own was much less detailed."What's with the emotional concern all of a sudden?" It certainly felt sudden, or raw and new. It was something, something she could not articulate correctly.

V.V simply tapped his head with a clawed finger, watching her pupils shrink. "You need them right now. You like them."

"Doesn't matter." Rina looked towards her haul instead of him. "I have a mission to complete."

"Does matter." V.V jumped down to stand beside her. "Your condition is better with them." He had to be careful here, appeal to logic and observation. Instincts were only so relevant. "Your body works better when you're trying to protect them. You want to do it."

"Doesn't matter what I want." Rina picked up her haul and then more.

"Matters to me," he said promptly. "I look after you."

Rina paused, then she hugged him tightly around the middle. "I know. Thanks, V.V."

He squeezed her back. "I'm always gonna try and do right by you."

"Yeah." Her voice took on, for a second, a klaxon tone. "You always do."

V.V. looked her up and down. "Still hurting."

Rina smiled, the expression more of a thin line. "Yeah. It won't stop. We should go back."

"Yeah." V.V. took her hand, let the subject drop. "Together now."

The answering sparkle in Rina's eyes made the tension in V.V.'s lungs relax a little.

Let the others be suspicious. Let them be wary. If it would get Rina the help he knew she needed, then he would become a villain the likes of which these children had never seen. He just had to hope it wasn't necessary.

Not for the first time in this past week, Keren had been wondering to herself if the choice to follow Mirei and the others into this world had been the correct one.

Sure, it led to her getting Dolce, and swiftly gaining friends in all of the kids who were with her. However, there was not only the threat of death via evil marauding empirical army that was trying to take over the File Island territories, but also being worked to exhaustion by two of her new supposed friends. Tyrone was already a harsh task master, and that was perfectly fine. From what she'd heard and witnessed a few days ago, the poor thing had been constantly ostracized from his peers due to being disliked for his abrasive behavior, which might have stemmed from how he'd been treated. That only led to a vicious cycle of him being left out more and then him being not very nice right back. It was honestly very saddening to her. It's why she didn't complain or at least tried not to.

Especially not since the display Falcor made of two of his supposed friends, and then he turned into an even harsher task master than Tyrone was after that. Sashenka and Fergus had both been beaten to the point of unconsciousness and hadn't woken up until the next morning, even after having medicine and 'healing items' applied to them by the kindly Angemon doctor that lived close by the restaurant Sayo had taken to working in.

Ever since then Keren had been waking up every morning hurting in ways she never thought she would, her young body being pushed past its natural breaking point. This helped contribute to what had to be the most miserable week she'd ever experienced in her young life and with her parents that said a lot. Stuck in a strange place, with strange people, in life-threatening danger that could come at any moment. Not only that but having some nice people turn out to not be as nice as they seemed, as well. Dolce had scared her when she 'evolved,' the same with Sashenka. She could see why Falcor tore them down. Whoever that 'Dylas' person was, him being gone was a reason they both seemed to want revenge, and probably partly why they were all together in the first place. At least now. She just wished Falcor didn't have to make himself terrifying instead of silly and cute like he had been. She couldn't look at him the same after that.

Or why he had to evolve to beat down Fergus and Sashenka. Poor Yuugo had passed out soon after, and she had to guess it was partially due to shock at the brutality of it all. It had certainly been for her. Both with Dolce, and then Falcor.

Not that she passed out that time. She allowed herself some pride in that.

As if in tune with her thoughts, said supposedly dopey lion cub strolled up to her with a few canteen straps clenched in his teeth. "Here!" he said after he spat them on the ground. "They're cold! Put them on your thighs! It'll feel real nice." Then, with a delighted little tail wag, he sauntered away to a stretched out Yuugo, who gave him a pleased little ear scratch or two. Delighted purrs filled the air. Yuugo smiled at her underneath the vent he had sat under and shut his eyes again. None of them were quite handling this as well as they all probably thought the others were. Well, except maybe Sayo-chan, but Sayo just was Sayo and was probably crumbling a little where none of them could see. Keren wasn't entirely sure

But today was a respite. Or at least an attempt at one. There was the possibility of an invasion on the way. the least they could do was be ready for it this time. This meant rest and food and plans. Well, the older ones were trying to plan. Except their resident mysterious war expert was good, and Niko was not happy about it.

"She'll show up soon." Sayo was trying to tell him, infinitely optimistic. As she spoke, she looked out the window with a nervous twitch of her eyes. Then her gaze brightened. "See? Right there."

Indeed, Rina was running back, looking like she had an actual reason to rush. There was someone on her back, their orange hair flopping at the sheer speed the older girl was running at.

"Good, she was gone far too long," Niko muttered under his breath, going to the window. Keren was about to not pay much more attention to this, trying to do some of the stretches they were all shown to get her body to not get stiff and achy again when Niko spoke up once. "The heck? Where did she get that kid?"

Keren's interest piqued, she came over to the window with them, along with most of them. Her eyes immediately widened, recognizing that hair color and style anywhere. She immediately went to the door and let Rina in before the girl even got close enough to ask for it.

Rina darted in within seconds and barked, "Shut the door!" as V.V. barrelled in with what appeared to be cartons of eggs in hand and a very large basket that smelled like apples. Yuugo did so, as poor Keren looked quite shell-shocked. Or at the very least scared. "Bed!" she continued quickly as Mirei hopped off of it, having been stretching up there to see better. Only then did Rina put the boy down. "Found him at the edge of the forest down the east side," she said, moving from foot to foot as she knelt to examine him. "He's exhausted and there are some burns on his left upper back. Suffering from dehydration."

Sayo moved to take a closer look, being the one with the closest medical supplies. Climbing up the bed, she sat there and traced her fingers over his skin. "This arm's fragile."

"He was holding it when I found him," Rina supplied, looking outside. "And those guys are moving over there. Like, a lot."

Yuugo was watching Keren. "Are you all right?"

Keren looked at him for a moment, her eyes still wide. She opened her mouth a moment, closed it, then looked back down at the boy on the bed. She moved until she was by the side of the bed and kneeled down, looking at him with tears gathering in her eyes. Seeing him like this, it hurt so much...

"Koh..." She whispered hoarsely. Seeing him here put such fear in her. It was bad enough she was in this world, being conscripted to help save it from the forces plaguing it, but now he was here too. How could this be? Did Mirei's uncles send him too? Did he also have a Digivice? Did they give him one? Did he follow her? It was almost too much to bear, not knowing.

"Getting water, then," Taiga announced, heading for the few empty packs. "If he's dehydrated it'd be best to get him some. And fruit. You don't lose just water in dehydration. Niko, go and get a splint."

"When did you become Rina's second in command?" The blond asked grouchily, though he did as commanded.

"Because she actually hugs me and I like it, unlike you." Came Taiga's cheeky reply. He got hit with a sock for his trouble.

"I'll get fruit," Sayo chirped, darting past Taiga and calling upon her connections of the nice diner.

"I'd hug you both at the same time if you both weren't so bony," Rina deadpanned. "And be careful. I heard things going boom out there. It's not safe."

"What the heck is safe," Artemis deadpanned. V.V. flicked her on the nose and got a scratch to the face for his trouble.

Yuugo sat beside Keren, looking over her shoulder "So this is your brother?" Well, they weren't exactly alike, but it was close. "He'll be okay."

Koh himself made a small gasp of pain. Mirei placed her hands over the injured arm and his eyes shot open when he cried out in alarm. Mirei jumped back halfway across the room, curling in with the Digimon to defend herself.

"Don't you move," Rina said gravely. "She was trying to keep your arm cold, it was probably roasting."

"It hurt," Koh mumbled, expression going very much against the pain he was feeling. It wasn't much of an expression at all, actually. His bleary red eyes scanned his surroundings and rested on Keren. His lips twitched like he was trying to smile. "Nee-chan?"

"Otouto." Keren replied, tearfully. She gently hugged him, minding his arm. Niko raised an eyebrow as he brought over the splint so that Rina could start applying it. He was thinking back to the time in which he was carrying her and she mentioned her 'onii-chan'. She'd assumed it was her brother, as everyone had, but... Well, with this exchange, that idea was gone out the window. He wondered who she had been referring too back then now.

He almost got clocked in the head by Taiga tossing the canteens at him. "Give him some of that after you get the splint on him!" Taiga told him, before going to do as was customary for him at this point and comfort Mirei, gently coax her back out into the open and away from the Digimon, who were all bunched together as most watched this go on in silence. Likely surprised by all this.

Koh almost smiled. "Thought you were back at camp..." he said, watching Rina with wary eyes as she came closer with the splint. Rina herself only narrowed her gaze at him in reply, making to apply the splint. He tried to pull away and failed, the one hand on his chest causing as much of a problem as Keren's tearful hug was. Rina only regarded him as she applied the splint.

Yuugo took the other canteen and blinked at Niko. "Do you guys like doing that to each other?"

Mirei shivered a little and obediently went to him. "Just surprised," she mumbled, pink in the face. "I'm okay."

Keren merely shook her head, whimpering. "I was hoping you were still safe." She whispered back. She pulled away, looking him over and wincing. "How did you even get here?"

"When you're practically brothers who are the same age?" Niko gave Yuugo a dull look. He shrugged at the younger boy. "Yeah. It's just what we do. Rina likes to get us in headlocks too because she thinks it's funny to see us flail impotently."

Taiga gave the small girl a smile and gently took her hand. "Good. He just didn't expect it. Don't worry, he'll be fine."

Koh let out a grunt as Rina finished with the splint, expression still barely changing. "My computer started acting funny when the storm hit. I went to get the camp counselor but..." He shrugged. "Next thing I knew I was in that forest."

Yuugo tilted his head. "Arata and I don't do that.

"Arata-kun's a noodle," Sayo commented as she came back into the building with what looked like a pineapple and an orange on top of quite a few others. they could very well not be.

Mirei nodded, taking his hand in both of hers.

"I..." Keren's lip trembled a moment before she shook her head. "But, how? I... We got here because of Mirei and her uncles, how could they have gotten you, too? I..."

"We were all chosen to come here, kick ass and chew bubblegum." Niko droned, before shaking his head. "And we don't got no gum and we are getting our asses kicked by the people trying to stop us all from being 'limp noodles'."

Koh's eyes flickered. "Who are you talking about? Chosen? For what?"

"It's not like it's hard," Falcor offered with a yawn. "And to stop this army of course. Or whatever the threat is now. Probably the army of communists."

"What's a communist?" Ivy asked. Rue swatted her head.

"Some human concept."

"How do you even know the word? Artemis muttered, stepping over. "Lemme do it you crying mass of derp." She squinted at Keren and hopped up on the bed. Clapping her paws together, water fell from them and landed on Koh. The boy squirmed for a moment before the tension eased from his shoulders. He wiggled his fingers and didn't wince."

"Whoa." He turned to Artemis now, eyes like he was dissecting her without a knife. "Neat."

"Waste of energy," Artemis corrected, hopping back down.

"Mirei can explain it better." Niko shrugged his shoulders. "But what we're here for ain't here anymore, so apparently we're being repurposed or something like that." He noticed Sayo discreetly putting the swear jar back into her bag once more. Girl was anticipating his foul mouth now. Heh, not this time. She had his wallet anyway.

At this rate, Niko was never getting his wallet back, period. Poor boy.

Keren gently took her brother's hand in her own, looking up at Artemis gratefully. Then she sighed and looked at him. "We were supposed to stop something really bad," She told her brother. "Me and everyone here, except Rina-sempai. But they were already stopped. We got brought here because they, Mirei and her uncles, didn't know that."

Koh tilted his head. "That doesn't make sense." He sat up a little and leaned on Keren. "They're not the ones who chose you, right? So, there must have been something else, because if there was nothing but whatever's happening here right now, there wouldn't be a point in bringing you guys all here, would there? THe ones that chose you wouldn't have let you come through.

Mirei shifted in her spot behind Taiga. "I don't know..." She knew, actually. She knew the one who had chosen them. But they had been quiet. Not even coming home had brought their noise. Maybe, maybe they had died in the aftermath... The very thought made her shake in her spot. Maybe a worse thing had happened...

Then the little girl frowned and looked up at Niko with some sort of wonder. "You... erm, you used my name just now, didn't you?

Rina let out a snicker as the realization connected to her as we... "Yeah, he did! See, he's just a big softie!"

A single drop of sweat ran down Niko's cheek as he mentally cursed himself. "N-no, I didn't. I didn't. You were just hearing things."

"We would all have to be hearing things, bro." Taiga was grinning now. He pat Mirei on the head. "You called our little snowgirl by her name. Her cuteness is growing on you, isn't it?"

"You shut up." Niko groused, his cheeks buring. Keren actually managed a small smile at the goings on, glad to see her new friends were really starting to come together after their Digimon's spat. She looked at her brother and gave him a solemn expression before hugging him again.

"We don't know who chose us to come here," Keren said. "I don't think we will ever know. But we're here now, and even if the reason we were here to do isn't around any more, we're still going to try to do some good..." She sighed, shaking her head. "I'm glad you're here, Koh, but at the same time I wish you hadn't been able to come here... This world is dangerous, and full of people who want to hurt others." Something flashed in her mind, and she was about to ask the question that was probably burning in most everyone's mind when it came to why Koh was in this world, but sadly it was put into the backburner when Taiga opened his mouth for an unintentionally thoughtless question.

"So, Koh-kun, right?" He asked. "You called Keren nee-chan, right? From what I've heard about you I assumed you were the older brother, because she called Niko 'nii-chan' and I had thought she was talking about you..." Taiga trailed off at the horrified silence Keren exuded right there, her having turned to look up at him with wide amber eyes filled with disbelief. She obviously hadn't known that.

Mirei flushed in confusion. I don't mind if you don't..." She was happy they hadn't pursued that other train of thought. The answers were uncomfortable to think about. Though apparently not as uncomfortable as what Taiga had just asked.

Rina looked between them all in complete fond exasperation. "Open mouth, insert foot, huh Taiga?"

Koh was staring too, and instead of horror, there was something else in his seemingly blank expression. Like laser beam locking on a target. "Like him, Nee-chan?" He looked down, as if mulling it over. Then, he shrugged, as if the answer was relatively irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. "We had older siblings. They disappeared one day. From the balcony."

"When?" Koh tilted his head to see Sayo having dropped her fruit. Her gaze had turned stony. "When?"

He shrugged. "Four years ago. Why?"

The intensity in her eyes seemed to grow before she slumped back, all ferocity gone. "No... it's nothing. Just a funny coincidence."

"Mm." Koh, appeased, turned to Keren. "How did that guy seem like Takumi-nii to you? Nii-san wasn't a jerk."

"I..." Keren was blushing horribly now. She hid her face from her brother and friends, unable to look at them. "He... I..."

"I carried her on my back," Niko supplied for her. He looked suitably horrified, like Sayo had been. He didn't understand why she was, but the thought of losing family members while they were in the house obviously scared him. And gave him his own flashbacks. "She was tired... I picked carried her because we needed to move. We were in the middle of a very dangerous situation."

Taiga however looked very embarrassed in this entire situation. He continued to pat Mirei's head, trying to comfort her, even though he knew that in this case it wasn't her that needed the comforting. "Yeah, tastes like leather." He replied to Rina, sighing in exasperation with himself.

Rina took his wrist and gave it a sympathetic squeeze. "Eh, I do it more than you. It's fine." MIrei looked up at him with her large purple eyes and leaned her head against his knee. She wasn't sure if she could actually help but she would like to try. He had been so kind to her after all.

Koh nodded. "Ah. Nii-san did that. Makes sense." He reached over and flicked her on the nose. "Stop that. You find him nice. I was just curious. You know that."

"When aren't we in a dangerous situation?" Yuugo couldn't help but muse. He glanced at Sayo, whose dark skin was now looking somewhat pale. "Sayo?"

"I... erm..." She made her way to the door. "I need to... uh, uhm, go outside for some air." She hurried out before anyone could stop her. Artemis let out a very put-upon groan and went after her.

Keren looked up at her brother with big, sad eyes. After Sayo's absconding, she didn't know how to respond to him. After a moment she just lay her head on his shoulder. "I still feel so embarrased." She finally muttered. "And... I miss them, so much."

Monodramon looked at the group with huge eyes before scampering off after Sayo and Artemis, clearly intending to follow. He gave a wave before he left, the pure friendliness of it still putting Niko off.

Monodramon would probably be hard pressed to find Sayo. She had bolted into the heart of the city, and more specifically, the most dangerous area. It probably wasn't on purpose, but it was a very real danger nevertheless. By the time he did find her, it was underneath a shattered doorway. Her head was resting on her knees and she was sitting very still. Once he got closer however, he would hear the clear sniffling. Artemis sat on the lower step, trying to prod her face into view.

"Come on," she was saying, trying to sound cajoling. "We're stuck together, you've gotta tell me what's wrong."

"No!" Sayo's muffled insistence would have been painful if anyone else was there."I'm just... I'm imagining things. That's all. It's a coincidence... that's all. It didn't happen... none of it happened. I just saw things..."

"Saw what?" Artemis grumbled.

"Nothing!"

"You had to have seen something."

Sayo only sniffled. "I'm just messed up, that's all... I imagine things. Don't worry about it."

"I'm not worrying." Artemis made a face. "I'm asking."

Monodramon came up slowly, looking lost. He didn't know how to help this, so all he did was come over and sit next to Sayo. He watched her, watched her sadness and felt so helpless. He didn't know how to help her besides coming over and laying his head on her shoulder.

Sayo jumped at the touch and tried to smile, only to fail. "I... erm... I...I think..." She swallowed. "I think those two people being missing is my fault." Her breath hitched. "Everyone said they were dead...There was, there was a lot of blood but... but it wasn't-" She let out a horrible whining sound. "They were trying to help me and I killed them!"

Artemis raised a baffled eyebrow, clearly in disagreement.

Monodramon whimpered. The thought of Sayo, his savior, doing anything like that went completely against his world view. Her sadness hurt him in ways his young, reformed mind hadn't ever felt before. He shook his head and nuzzled against her, like an affectionate puppy trying to stop the tears. "Didn't. Couldn't. No matter what you think you did, you couldn't have." He said, gently and with an innocent, heartfelt insistence. "Something else must have happened, whatever it is. Something else. You didn't kill no one."

"Well, if she did, it would make thin's easier for me." A shadow fell upon them as that husky, deep, unfamiliar voice interrupted him. Three pairs of eyes shot up to look at a giant bear with violet fur and a white muzzle and underbelly. A cresent moon was on his forehead. He stood up, making himself look even bigger, and he held out a paw to Sayo that was bigger than her body, with claws as large as she was. He had on what he thought looked like a friendly grin, but it was instead showing off far too many big, sharp teeth. "Ya could use those killin' talents for the better side if ya are a killer, lass. After all, what good is a killer when ya trying to defend things?"

Sayo flinched and stood up, guilt and dread filling in her throat. She reached out and squeezed both their hands. "K-Killing to protect and defend people is a be-be-bet-ter than what I did... What good would I be to you?" She didn't know why she was able to stand up like this. Maybe because this was a stranger, a stranger whose only value on her was how much of her blood he could get on the floor. "How is your side b-better?"

"Why, keepin' people from havin' to be like me or you in the future!" The bear continued to smile, even as Artemis and Monodramon made themselves look bigger to try and ward him away. It wasn't working. "See, lass, what I'm trying to do, what we're trying to do, is set up a world without a future of bloodshed. To do that, unfortunately we're gonna had to shed some of that blood, 'til people stop tryin' t' keep on resisting the Emperor's word. He doesn't want a world of sufferin', yanno. And honestly, I'm gettin' tired of this life, of havin' to go 'round and clobber the hell out of people for the sake of makin' them listen. So yeah." He held his paw out closer to Sayo. "I just want ya to have some sense. Killin' is bad, hurtin' people is bad. Why not help us make this process go faster so we can get on to having good lives with everyone? That's a good goal, ain't it? Just take m'hand, lass. Together, we can do it. We can make a better world under the Emperor and make everythin' safe and without the fear of the next raid from people like us."(edited)

Artemis snarled softly, and Sayo twitched, a full-body movement. "There's something wrong with that," she whispered, the girl's eyes flickering. "THe people of the present matter too. If you have to make them listen, maybe the message doesn't make sense. If your lord doesn't want that suffering, then, then he'd be better off trying to minimize that suffering. But he's not. Or his subject's aren't. This place is so broken. So..." She looked at her muddy shoes, then up at the bear. "I... I'm sorry, but I have to refuse your offer... I don't think there will be people left in your tomorrow." She slipped her other hand free of Monodramon and pulled out her Digivice. It was starting to spark. "I would really like to make a better world with you, but what's been done here... I can't forget that."

Artemis couldn't help her smile.

The bear's smile turned to a sad frown, and he raised his paw away. "Well, sorry to hear that, lass. But even as that may, if ya ain't gonna help us, I can't exactly let you leave after hearin' this. Better to silence someone so I can continue my job." With that, he raised his claws in preparation to bring them down to the small group, likely to either crush them or slice them to ribbons.

Sayo reacted and leaped forward, dodging the arc his arm would make and charging forward. Artemis' ears vibrated so fast they blurred and bubbles exploded everywhere, intent on the bear's face.

Monodramon leaped on the paw and ran up it, smashing the bear in the face. It let out a growl as it jerked back, Artemis' bubbles driving back even more. It ground its feet into the dirt and came back to bare, ready to unleash hell... Only to see Sayo's tiny form touching her Digivice to his leg, rather, desperate to make it work, moved the Digivice up his leg. He clawed with a frontal paw, the position only managing to graze her face (which had its own problems) but the light up the abdomen and when it did, the light from the Digivice proceeded to violently explode, sending all parties into various walls.

Its song rang out like a beacon.

After a moment, Niko sighed and began to pick up the basket of fruits Sayo had brought in with her. "Well, I'll go and get these washed off for ya. Then you gotta eat them, alright Koh-kun? Little printessa brought them for you." He walked over to the kitchenette area and began to wash the fruits off, getting whatever dirt and dust particles that had been there off.

Taiga managed to give the girls a grateful smile. "Y-yeah, I guess... Still." He looked over at Keren and Koh again and felt some sort of envy rise in his heart. Even with Niko all but being his brother, even with Rina's hugs and everything, he never experienced anything like that. And he most likely never would. Not with his own siblings. Even still, it what he did made him feel guilty. "I brought up a lot of bad memories for them..." He sighed, shaking his head. Taiga pet Mirei's hair and smiled a small smile at Rina. "At least you can make people laugh."

Koh leaned to press his forehead against his sister's, looking her right into the eyes. "It'd be weird if you didn't. But they need us to hang in there." He blinked at Niko. "I can't eat long distance. But I would like to whenever you haul ass over here."

A strange jar seemed to plop into his lap, open and glistening with coins.

"I like this guy," V.V. deadpanned, finally going to put the eggs in the fridge. "Very helpful, much intelligence."

"I think little missy over there does that all by herself on purpose," Rina said sagely. Then she shrugged. "Only because they don't know how to react any other way."

"Funny guy." Niko muttered to himself. He smirked a little at seeing the swear jar and said, "Gotta put a thousand, two hundred and forty yen in the swear jar now, kid. It's going to a good cause." He plopped the basket on the bed. "If you want any of that skinned, don't look at me. I did my good deed for the day and got criticized for it."

Keren gave him a grateful nod and took some of the fruit out, already working on peeling an orange for her brother. She blinked a bit as she was hit by a very dazzling smell when the rind came off. It was an aroma that, for some reason, seemed to promote a good mood in her despite herself. She blinked in confusion as she noticed there seemed to be a small, little decoration that looked like a smiling face on the front.

"You're easy to criticize because you tend to snap act," Yuugo offered softly. "Nice job bringing the canteens back . We'll need those too."

Koh tilted his head and shrugged, dropping some coins in. The smell of that fruit made him not mind but still. "The fruit here is weird," he decided, picking up an orange banana. He peeled it and bit in. His lips twitched into a grimace. "Sour."

"It would, if we could get this hope." Keren nodded in agreement. "I might ask Jijimon if we can have a sample or seeds from the plant to take back home, when we're able to go back... If we can cultivate these meats, we won't need as many farm animals."

"I didn't see you picking up the basket," Niko glowered at Yuugo, before huffing and looking away.

"It is," Keren agreed. She'd already experienced this sort of thing with that particular fruit. "That's not the only thing though. They can literally grow meat from the ground here." She still remembered how weird it had been to see legs and whole cuts hanging off of plants for people to pick up and cook. It was so weird.

Yuugo only smiled at him, remaining in his spot by the doorway. "I'm busy guarding the door."

Koh thought about this. "That would go a long way towards ending world hunger." He took another reluctant bite of the banana.

"From what?" Niko raised an eyebrow at Yuugo, more curious than anything.

Yuugo reached for Falcor, who sat next to him and wagged his tail eagerly. "All of you," he said simply. "And me."

"We'd have to figure out if it's invasive though," Koh said easily. "Or can be cultivated in our soil. It'd be a good project."

"What the hell, Yuugo." Niko narrowed his eyes at the younger boy now. "Really? Why are you gonna keep us in here? Or try, at any rate."

"Sayo wants to be alone," Taiga spoke up from where he, Rina and Mirei continued to watch the goings-on. "We already know that. You standing there and acting like a guard dog isn't really going to help us for when we need to go out there to do other things, Yuugo-kun."

Yuugo nodded minutely. He didn't disagree. "But you also know there are a lot of dangerous things preparing to attack out there." He exhaled. "Koh-san here is now still injured. We can't leave him by himself and only one of us can make our partners evolve like that at will. She's likely in danger out there."

Rina thought about this. "Ah, yeah and everyone here has a bleeding heart that runs at the sound of the first boom to help. True that. At least being a sitting duck in here gives everyone cover. But I'll be fine."

"We need you to keep your energy up," Yuugo pointed out.

"It will... Though we'll have to get home, first." Keren sighed, before taking apart the orange and handing him some of the slices. "No idea how we'll do that, though... We got here because some weird men in tribal masks sang some sort of weird song."

Koh nodded. "Well, there's got to be a way to go back. Once the quest is complete or something."

"But there are four of us now, counting you." Taiga frowned, nodding slightly. "It still would be a good idea for one of you to go check on her soon, if that's the case. After all, she's outside now, and it's dangerous, like you said..."

"Yeah, the problem is knowing what that is." Keren sighed again. "If we don't we might be stuck here... Though if I'm here with you, I might be able to stand it."

Yuugo nodded slowly. He, again, didn't disagree. He just... He chewed on his lower lip. "We still can't repeat the gest-" He was cut off by what seemed like the equivalent of a sonic boom of bird song.

Koh leaned against her again, then jumped. "What was that?"

"Okay, now I have to go look!" Rina bounced over, lifted Yuugo like a small toy, and bolted outside. V.V. made a face and ran after her.

Everyone else followed suit, with Keren helping her brother as he still hobbled along. They all eventually came to a small crowd of File Island natives, ranging from tiny babies let out of the Nursery area, to Child levels who gawked around, to concerned Adults and the rare Perfects and Mega or two milling about in stupefaction. When they made their way to the middle of the crowd, everyone paused at seeing who was there. Sayo was barely conscious with Jijimon near her on one side and the headmaster of the clinic, Angemon, on the other side.

The large humanoid was frowning, a squint under his helmet as he tested a barely responsive Sayo. After a moment he nodded at Jijimon. "She's merely exhausted." He stated. "She is showing no signs of physical trauma, and I felt nothing broken in her. She's a tough little thing. All she needs is sleep."

"Good." Jijimon had been wringing his hands. For once he was without his paw cane. "And the others?"

"Artemis and Monodramon will be fine," Angemon replied. "What I'm most curious about is the new one. I've never seen this Wanyamon before, and I've known a few. Especially the one who almost always gets himself sick."

"Not my fault!" A whiny voice cried from the side. Angemon ignored him.

Sayo barely stirred at the sound of so many footsteps around, only reacting to the lighter, smaller ones. Then, she turned her head in the vague direction she thought she had heard the voices from. "I... saved him..."

Rina, who was closest, leaned her head to hear better. "Mm?"

Sayo smiled. "Made up for it... with him. He can't kill anyone now... " she raised her hand to point and failed, hand flopping back down as exhaustion caught up.

Whispers ran through the crowd. RIna looked around for them and saw Koh, his eyes intent on the device in Sayo's hand.

For a moment, she thought she saw him smile.