Disclaimer: I state to claim to the popular anime Digimon. I'm merely writing a fan fictional short story using the characters. I do, however, claim the plot and ask that no one write a sequel or story dealing with this particular piece of work without my consent. Thank you-

Chapter Six

Jyou fought off exhaustion as Tai forced them on mercilessly. His sister Hikari stumbled and fell and Takeru immediately knelt down beside her to help her up, a bruise purpling his left cheek where Tai had hit him earlier when he'd suggested they take a rest. He watched helplessly as Hikari cried, silent tears coursing down her face. Her brother stopped and turned around, giving her a glare that made Jyou flinch. If looks could cut she'd look like she went through a paper shredder.

She whimpered and choked back a sob as Tai moved so that he was standing over her, his lips curled up in an audible snarl as his hand buried itself in her hair. He pulled her bodily to her feet in one strong jerk that caused her to scream in pain; he held her there for a moment, then backhanded her. She bit her lip, causing blood to pool in her mouth in an effort to hold back the scream that bubbled up in her throat. Tai released his grip and looked into Jyou and Koushiro's eyes as she crumpled bonelessly at his feet, thick stripes of her dark, sandy blonde hair twisting around his fingers.

"Would anyone else like to slow us down?" He asked, his mouth turned down in a sinister frown as he absently shook the strands from his fingers, though insane laughter danced wildly in his eyes. He snorted in disgust when they shook their heads and turned to resume his place at the head of the group, humming tunelessly as he started walking again.

Koushiro moved closer and gestured for Jyou to stay quiet as Takeru came up to them, supporting Hikari with one arm around her waist and the other on her shoulder while she cried and clutched her head.

"Something's happened to Tai." He whispered as they started walking again. Jyou gave his friend a look that said, "Oh really?" but kept his sarcasm behind his teeth.

"I think the Digiworld has finally fried his brain, I knew it would happen sooner or later but I always thought it would be me." He said instead. Koushiro shook his head disagreeably.

"No, even if it had, he wouldn't have hurt Hikari or Takeru like that." Jyou, agreeing with the resident genius, looked down at his shoes in confusion, wondering what would have had that affect on their leader.

"How can you be sure?" Jyou asked, letting his tone turn skeptical to prob Koushiro into saying more as he pushed his glasses back up onto his nose where they had slid down. "I mean, he has proven that he can be violent." He look to his friend, but it was Hikari who answered.

"My brother would never do what this monster's done!" She said forcefully, not in the least uncertain even with the large, purplish red mark claiming one side of her face.

"We have to find someway to trap him." Koushiro explained patiently. "Some kind of plan to see if he's the real Tai or not."

"How are we supposed to do that?" Takeru asked, shifting his backpack on his shoulders, the digiegg that had once been Byomon peeking out of the top.

"I don't know, but it'll have to be one darn good plan."

*****

Mimi blinked at Matt as if he'd got insane. "What are you talking about, what's this about my destiny?" Matt sighed in agitated defeat. Almost immediately after her confession to a prophesy of some sort, her eyes had gone blank and she'd denied seeing anything.

"Never mind Mimi, forget I said anything." Mimi's eyes followed him with curious concern as he stood and paced back to the tree he'd been leaning against.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." He answered, plopping back down against the sturdy trunk. Mimi tried to stand and found that her lower legs felt like hard knots that refused to be stretched. She stumbled a few steps before collapsing desperately against a thin tree beside Matt and sliding gratefully to the ground.

"Something wrong?" He asked, true worry in voice as he looked her over. Mimi forced a self mocking laugh even as her legs began to ache painfully.

"I think I was sitting like that a little to long." She said, ignoring the pain in her legs and stretching them out infront of her while she leaned back into the hard bark of the tree with a grimace of pain, the quiet stillness stretched to minutes as they both relaxed.

"I've decided we should go exploring." Matt announced quietly, interrupting the peaceful silence that had hung between them where they sat propped against their trees like drunken fools. Mimi cast him a curious glance.

"If we're not going to be here long, why should we go exploring?"

"Because I've decided that I like it here and I'd like to look around." He explained, "I'd also like to see what kind of Digimon live here and if there's anyway we can defend ourselves against any who might be dangerous."

"It sounds as if you've thought long and hard about this." Mimi said, pulling her legs up to her chest from their spread out position, the aching pain gradually beginning to dull.

"Actually," He replied, grinning confidently. "I'm making it up as I go along." That wasn't exactly the truth; he'd been thinking about it since the voice had invaded his mind, but he didn't see any reason why Mimi should know that.

"When do you think we should start?" She asked, wrapping her thin arms around her upraised knees.

"As soon as you think you can stand." Matt answered, letting his head fall back against the tree while his hands, elbows resting on his knees, dangled between his own upraised legs.

"I think I might be able to stand now." She admitted hesitantly. Freeing her hands and placing them flat against the ground beside her, she moved her legs under her until she could rise unsteadily to her feet. She stood where she was until the tingling in her legs had stopped then nodded at Matt who'd been watching her closely. He pushed himself up and made one long stride that brought him to her side.

"Can you walk okay?" Mimi moved a step at a time until she'd walked to the campfire and back, the stiffness slowly working out.

"Yeah, I can walk fine." Matt regarded her for a moment, his eyes brooding and serious.

"All right then," He said at last, sounding as if he'd just come to a difficult decision. "I think we should start by circling the lake, gradually making our round wider day by day 'til we reach the base of the mountains. That way we'll have covered every inch of this place." Mimi sighed in reluctant surrender, not at all sure if she was willing to devote that much time to the place when she knew they'd be leaving most likely sooner that later. But whatever her feelings, she followed Matt without complaint as the four of them began walking.

They went the opposite way of the waterfall since they wouldn't be able to cross there unless they swam across, and, as the day wore on, met with no incidents until Gabumon stumbled onto a stone path covered with overgrown plants. Clearing the growth away, they saw that the stones were made out of gold. They followed the path with their eyes to where it disappeared beneath the water. Looking straight out they saw the island in the center that they had mistaken for jagged rocks was actually a gray stoned castle. The golden path appeared again on the island in a line from where they stood.

"Should we follow it?" Mimi asked, afraid there could be something lurking in that place just waiting for them. Matt studied it for a minute before mumbling under his breath and scanning the ground with his eyes for something. "What?" She asked, trying to hear what he was saying.

"I said it's to easy, there has to be a trick… Aha!" Matt exclaimed, bending to pick up a stick as tall as him and almost as thick as his arm. "That's better!" He flashed Mimi a confident smile. "Okay, now, lets go see what's in that castle!"

*****

Blinking slowly, Sora lay in the darkness trying to decide if being able to feel the cold, hard ground meant she was alive or not. Finally, after what felt like hours she pushed herself to a sitting position and attempted to study her surrounding. But as she held her hand infront of her eyes, feeling nothing but the movement of air as she wiggled her fingers, she realized she couldn't see anything but an all consuming blackness. With a start, she also realized that the comforting feel of jean material tight against her skin was missing and, panicking, her hands went to her hips. Expecting to come in contact with nothing but warm flesh, she was surprised to feel the soft brush of something she assumed to be silk that, as her hands trailed down each leg, stopped just above the ankle. Bringing her hands up to her chest, she found the same type of cloth to confirm that even though she felt naked, she was really just clothed in a material so light and soft that she couldn't feel it. She wasn't sure if that comforted her or not, but she told herself that it was better to not feel it than to not have it.

Stumbling blindly to her feet, Sora began to cautiously explore her environment, awkwardly walking with her hands out infront of her and shuffling her feet so that she wouldn't trip over anything on the floor. After more than a dozen hesitant steps and not touching anything, she cried out with relief when her hands finally connected a cold stone wall that seemed to feel funny. Without moving, she spread her hands out in different directions and immediately found out why. She was standing in a corner.

She again resumed her trek, a little less carefully, and understand that the reason it had taken so long was that she must have started from one corner to the other. If she had turned around at the start she probably would have ran into the wall right off since the room was much smaller than she'd originally thought which gave her an odd sense of security. On one of the walls there was an old wooden door that she had repeatedly tried to break down with her shoulder and at the moment was rubbing the arm where it felt as though it might have been dislocated. With a groan that was half growl, she fell to her knees and let her head fall to the side where she fell into a hopeless sleep almost instantly.