Daichi: Now, moving along for the sake of semi-productivity… yeah, not even pretending anymore. Let's see where this goes.

Tsukaimon: Don't own anything… don't particularly want to own anything, if this is the result…

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Forty-five minutes. That was how long it took for Budmon to do something stupid. For a given definition, anyway. And Ib supposed she couldn't really get mad, what with the rest of the Digimon doing the same thing.

It had all been fine until the Kuwagamon showed up. Because apparently giant killer insects were a thing here. She wanted to say she was surprised. She really did.

And of course they ended up being chased to the edge of a cliff. Because today was just turning out to be a really, really bad day. But she'd accepted that when she fell through the portal. Other worlds did not play nice.

They had been cornered, so of course the Digimon chose to fight back. All eight of them. The blobs were cute, but in no way were they effective fighters.

"You shouldn't have done that," Ib muttered, scooping Budmon up in her hands once again. "There wasn't any way for you to win."

"But I had to try," She squeaked in return. "I'm your partner. It's my job to protect you."

"I'm not quite sure you understand what 'partners' means. We're supposed to work together." Not that she expected to be any good in a fight. Especially without any sort of functional weapon. But that wasn't exactly the point she was trying to make.

She didn't think she could handle it if someone ended up sacrificing themselves to save her. Not again.

And Budmon didn't listen. She just charged in to fight again. And while Ib had pretty much resigned herself to nothing going as planned, there were things she just didn't want to see. She wanted the little spiked creature to be safe.

Lalamon was still adorable, even if she didn't quite fit into her partner's hands anymore.

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And Joe said swimming lessons were a waste of time. Ib supposed she could forever find satisfaction at being right, because the other was just so smart it was hard to win. But that wasn't the important bit now.

They were still lost in a world that wasn't their own. A point made with every word that the Digimon said, proven more and more by even the plants around them.

"Are you sure?" Izzy asked, not for the first time, and given that this was day one, certainly not the last.

"I think I can recognize a portal when I go through one," She replied. "And does this look like anyplace we'd find in our world?"

"If we're the first humans on the island, it could just be that it hasn't been discovered yet." Which was, admittedly, the logical conclusion. Except for the whole 'arrived by portal' thing. And the fact that Digivolution clearly broke the laws of Earth physics.

"If she says we're in another world, we're probably in another world," Joe spoke up. "And in that case, we just have to find a portal back."

"It's not that easy." That assumed that there even was a portal back. For all any of them knew, they could be trapped there forever.

At least, in terms of places they could be trapped in, she supposed it wasn't that bad. By no means was it a safe place, but at least it didn't seem to be actively out to get them.

She decided against mentioning that to the others, though. Joe already knew, and it wasn't like prior experience really meant something when it had been so different.

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"So, how many of us have actually been camping before?" Ib asked, as they all sat around on the beach. Mimi was the only one to raise her hand. This was not a good sign.

But she did have a survival kit, which was probably the most important thing they had. She had no illusions as to how long the emergency food would last, what with their group size having suddenly doubled.

"The phone booths don't work," Joe sighed. "But we sort of expected that."

"Nobody ever really comes to or leaves this island," Lalamon chipped in. "Well, aquatic Digimon sometimes come up the rivers, but that's all."

"Digimon live in the water, too?" Tai asked. Everyone glanced out to the surf, and Gomamon. "...Right."

It seemed that their only hope to survive was in trusting the Digimon, who had been fending for themselves all their lives. Who, until today, had stood no chance against any opponent, and even now were on the weaker side of the spectrum when it came to power.

Ib hated it. She'd had the choice to walk away, technically, but she'd never considered it an option. Being thrown a small blue device and deciding whether or not to pick it up should not have been a life-changing decision.

Her little device was tucked snugly away in her pocket, next to the comforting feeling of Garry's lighter. Which she was not going to mention to the others, because it wasn't useful at the moment as anything other than a security blanket.

Probably wouldn't ever be. But even as a simple weight in her pocket, it made things better. Not good, though she figured she could manage it on a better day, but nice enough.

"None of my stuff has been working since we got here," Izzy groaned, although Ib thought it had just as much to do with falling of the cliff and into the river as the portal. Maybe.

Things like perception of time could be messed with. Memories could be altered. Physical objects didn't seem to be affected, although she hadn't had the time or inclination for proper observation. Well, no time like the present.

Or maybe later. When there wasn't an offended Shellmon to deal with. Possibly once they'd managed to convince Tai to start thinking before acting. And it wasn't too important, anyway, compared to the main goal of survival. Everything else came later.

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Daichi: ...Including her own mental health. But that was sort of a given.