I hate my computer…This is the THIRD time I've had to write this thing over, because my *beeping* computer threw out the other two files. Dang…

Please don't pound me with 'that's Taichi and Hikari's last name!' because of the mention of the Yagamis in this chapter. It was just the only thing I could think of, and has no connection to anything else.

I would've said, in response to the many "WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED?!" reviews I got, that I would never kill T.K. or Kari…But if you've read some of my other fics, you know this is about as true as rumors of penguins in the Amazon.

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, never have, never will.

Chapter 4

Kari groaned and opened her eyes. Light. Lots of light. Was she dead?

She closed her eyes again. No, not dead. She always thought that when you were dead you were supposed to feel all free and floaty. All she felt right now was a head ache.

With a final grown, she pulled herself up and blinked until she could see. She was sitting on a dirt floor, inside a small, tiny little thatched hut. She was by one of the brown clay walls. The light came from a small window above her, and a fireplace on the back wall, with a door opposite. There was a table nearby, with two chairs next to it. The only other furniture was a small straw bed and a knitted green blanket.

Someone groaned. She looked down. T.K. was lying next to her, barely conscious, his hair caked with dirt. It looked like rolling in the mud and letting it dry. Lifting a hand to rub through her own hair, she found it the same way, caked solid and crispy.

There was a click and a swish as the door outwards swung in. "Oh, you're awake!" the figure cried. "How wonderful!"

Standing there was a woman, maybe three or four years older than herself, holding a wooden bucket in each hand. She had long, violet hair and gentle eyes that had a happy look to them, and a sweet smile. She was dressed in a dark red dress that reached the floor and a brown shawl.

She set down her buckets and turned to her guest. "I'm so glad." she smiled. "You've been out so long, we didn't know when you'd wake up."

Kari blinked. "Um…not to be rude or anything…" she muttered as politely as she could. "But…Who are you?"

The woman started a moment, then grinned. "Oh, how scatterbrained of me." she sighed. "To go on talking without introducing myself. My name is Yolei."

Kari stood and brushed herself off. "I'm Kari." she said, smiling. She liked this woman. "It's very nice to meet you."

Yolei nodded, then motioned to the two chairs by the table. "Please, sit down. We have much to talk about."

Kari did as she was told. Yolei took a wooden cup, dipped it into one of her buckets, and held it out to her for a drink. Kari, realizing suddenly how thirsty she was, took it and gulped down the coolest, cleanest, sweetest water she'd had for a long time.

Yolei must have noticed how thirsty she was, because she refilled her cup many times and allowed the younger girl to drink until she could hold no more.

"Thank you!" Kari gasped when she'd finished, wiping her lip. "I had no idea I was so thirsty!"

"It's perfectly natural." Yolei laughed. "After all, you've been out for two days straight, with nothing to eat or drink. I suspect that when your friend awakens, he shall be thirsty as well."

Kari smiled. "Speaking of which…" she tried to work it out. "Where on earth are we?"

"You are in my cottage." Yolei said calmly, stroking her hair. "In the village of Kingswillis."

"Kingswillis?!" Kari gasped, standing suddenly and leaning over the table. "But… But isn't that ruled by the Yagamis?!"

"The same."

"B-B-But…But we were just in Westwood, under the Ishidas!"

"Ah." Yolei smoothed her dress. "Now I understand…You see, my fiancé pulled you two out of the inland sea, clinging to some driftwood, while he was fishing almost two days ago. You must have fallen in…perhaps he tried to pull you out and slipped as well."

"Fallen…In?" Kari strained to remember, and then it came back in a rush. "Daricon……"

Before Yolei could ask what the heck she was talking about, T.K. awoke. He jolted upright and almost hit his head on the table. "What the…?!?" he gasped. "Where am I?! What's going on?! Ow!" He grabbed at a place on his arm that had been wounded, but now was wrapped in a clean linen bandage.

Kari crouched behind him and started messaging his shoulders to clam him down. "It's okay, T.K.…" she whispered. "We're in Kingswillis."

"Kingswillis?" T.K. shook his head. "How'd we get here?"

Kari gave him a very serious look. T.K.'s face darkened as it came to his mind too. "Oh…That's right." he muttered. "Daricon…"

Yolei glanced between the two of them, wondering where they had come from and what in the world they were doing.

Suddenly, with a bang, the door swung open. Standing there was a handsome young man, with black hair a deep, deep dark eyes, dressed in brown. He brushed his hair back, and he smiled cheerily.

Yolei stood, a smile spreading over her face, and greeted him with a joyous, "Ken! You're home!"

They hugged and he planted a kiss on her cheek. Then he glanced down at their visitors and smiled. "Well well well!" he laughed heartily. "I see you've awoken! Wonderful!"

Yolei smiled. "Kari, dear, this is my fiancé, Ken." she turned to the man. "Ken, this is Kari and…"

"Uh…T.K.…" the prince muttered, after glancing over his shoulder at Kari for the approving nod that they could be trusting. "My name's T.K."

"A pleasure." Ken helped Kari to her feet like a true gentleman, then held out his hand for T.K. With a tug, he pulled the boy up-right, then greeted him with a hearty hand shake. "You some kinda royalty?"

Kari and T.K. both jumped a foot. He glance at her, but she shook her head to say I never told them. T.K. turned back to Ken. "W-Well…I-I mean, yes!" he stammered. "H-How'd you know?"

Ken grinned. "Not many 'round here wears that bright a shade or that thin a clothing."

T.K. glanced down. He was wearing a rather thin outfit, made of satin like Cody usually had him wear, in a bottle green. He turned a bit red. "Um…yes…" he muttered. "I uh…don't suppose you have an extra set I can borrow? I wouldn't want to draw attention to myself…"

"Of course." Ken's face darkened just a bit. "But first…Would you mind telling us how in the world you could have floated in from that sea?"

Kari and T.K. glanced at each other, nodded, and began. They told this couple everything, from their meeting, to Kari working at the castle, to Daricon's trap. When they were done, Yolei looked horrified.

"So this…this Daricon guy…tried to get rid of you?" she gasped, putting her hand over her mouth. "How awful!"

Ken, at the same time, had become very quite in thought. He suddenly stood, disappeared outside, then came back in with a large piece of rolled parchment. He spread it out on the table.

It was a very nice map of the inland sea and surrounding areas. On one side, towards the middle of the sea, was a dot labeled Westwood. Lower, near the bottom, was labeled Kingwillis. There was a slightly curving path connecting the two, half of which was covered by a dense forest.

Ken traced the path with his fingers. "From what I can tell…You've got about a six day's walk to Westwood. And that's if you can get a guide through the woods."

"But…" Kari calculated on her fingers. "We've already been gone two days…or maybe three or four, floating around…"

"It would only take Daricon a day and a half to seize control, if I know him." T.K. muttered. "He's probably got the whole town on its knees by now."

Ken looked up from the map. "It's a dangerous road." he warned. "There are animals, and robbers. People who'll kill a man and do a woman worse. Sure you wanna risk it?"

"We've got to…" Kari was whispering now. Yolei glanced at her worriedly. "I'm worried…About my brother, and my friends…the life'll be sucked out of all of them by the time we get home…"

Ken rolled up his map. "Alright then." he sighed. "You'll have to leave as soon as possible. Tomorrow morning should give us enough time. Agreed?"

Kari and T.K. nodded. Yolei stood. "Alright then." she clapped her hands together. "Kari, come with me. We've got a lot of work to do."

~ * ~ * ~

The next day, Ken escorted the two to the edge of the town, pointed the way, showed them where to go on the map, and bid them farewell. Kari was in a clean brown dress she'd gotten from Yolei, and her shawl had been washed, back to its dark red. T.K. had thrown out his princely clothes, and donned another earth-gray tunic. They both carried a pack, stuffed full with food and supplies, as well as a small purse of money T.K. had with him, to pay for stays at the inns.

They listened well to Ken's warning of caution, but for the first two days of the trip nothing happened. They walked about ten hours a day, as long as the sky was light. The first night they stayed out-of-doors, but now they were at an inn, somewhere just before the forest.

"From the looks of it…" T.K. examining the map closely. "The forest itself'll take us about three days. But once we're through that, we should be only about half a day from Westwood."

There was a small clunk. Two rich, foamy drinks were set on the table the two were leaning over. They looked up. The innkeeper, a red-haired man named Izumi, was smiling down at them.

"On the house." he gestured. "You two look pretty cold. These'll warm you up real good."

"Oh!" Kari smiled, and picked hers up. "Thank you!"

T.K. lifted his up too. It wasn't alcoholic, but it did warm them to the bone with every sip, and was quite enjoyable. Tasted kinda like mint leaves and ginger at the same time, but not quite like either.

Izumi leaned over an glanced at the map. "You two aren't really planning to go through those woods alone, now are you?" he asked. Both nodded. "You shouldn't risk it. There's no real trail, you could get lost for weeks. It's safer to go around."

"We've gotta go through." T.K. pressed. "It's the faster, and we've really got to get to Westwood as soon as possible."

Izumi saw determination in the young man's eyes. "Alright then…" he sighed. "But you shouldn't go without a guide."

"Do you know where we could find one?" Kari asked. "Someone around here maybe?"

"Well…" Izumi considered. "I sure don't know, and not many around here risk it…But there is one guy…"

He pointed at a young man in the corner, about the same age as T.K. and Kari. He had short brown hair and brown eyes. His skin was tanned golden brown from the sun, and he was dressed in a navy blue cloak.

"That guy is probably your best choice." he continued. "His name's Daisuke, but everyone calls him Davis. He's been through that woods a dozen times over. He knows it better than anyone."

T.K. glanced over at the boy as he finished the drink. He didn't look too bad, but maybe just a little vain. He wasn't at all the kind he would have chosen if there was another, but since he was the only one he'd have to do.

"Thank you." he stood, setting the empty glass down on the table. "We'll go talk to him right away. We have to get to Westwood."

"Wait up, T.K." Kari set her empty glass down, then followed him across the room to the guide.

Davis was leaning back in the corner chair, sipping one of the hot drinks. He glanced up as the two approached him, and locked eyes with the prettiest young girl he'd ever seen. Her hair, her eyes, everything about her captivated him.

"Excuse me." T.K. asked as they came up. "Are you the one they call Daisuke?"

"Davis, if you will." he said airily, not taking his eyes off of Kari.

"Yes…" T.K.'s eyes narrowed. "We need to get through the woods…quickly."

"That's what I do." Davis stood. "It's twenty pieces a man, ten a woman, and I'll be glad to show you through."

T.K. sighed. "Fine." he muttered, then realized he'd left the pouch back at their table and had to go back for it.

As he left, Davis took Kari's hand and lifted it to his lips, a sign of respect for a woman and quite common in those days, but you would never do it to a mere peasant girl unless you thought of her more.

Kari pulled her hand away. "Don't do that anymore." she whispered, before T.K. appeared with the pouch.

"There." he pulled out the thirty pieces and handed them to the guide. "There's your price. Now shall we get started?"

Davis glanced out the window. It was dripping with rain. "I'm afraid we'll have to left 'til this rain stops. It ain't good traveling weather." he stood and pulled on a hat that had been sitting beside him. "Tomorrow, I think, would be the best time to leave. I shall see you in the morning."

He disappeared up the stairs to his room. T.K.'s eyes remained narrowed. "Somethin' the matter?" Kari asked.

"I don't like that guy." T.K. muttered. "Too cocky for his own good."