Spirited

Chapter 3: Other Worlds.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters in this story, nor the places or names.
Digimon Tamers is owned by Toei Animation.Thoughts or non-vocal explanation.

"Speech"

'Quote'

Real World (Matsuki residence):

"I wonder were Takato is, he should have been back from school by now." Takato's mother stated as she began pacing around the room again in worry and slight panic. "I just got off the phone with Janyu and he says that their not at his place, he said he would check with the Nonaka's to see if they decided to go over there while I check with our neighbors

With that Takato's father left his wife to her thoughts…
Where is he, did he leave because we made him move, or is he even gone, what if he's been kidnapped, or eaten by one of the those Digimon, did he go back to that digital world, did he leave to find his partner without telling us?
Did he go back, is his partner more important to him than his family, does he hate us for doing what we thought was best, Takato where are you?
…It was then that her husband returned to the room.

"He's not there either…" The phone rings, "…Hello, yes, alright we will be there right away" Mrs. Matsuki's mind fills with terror at those words.Is he hurt, in trouble, in jail! Where are you Takato, I need to know that your alright.

"That was Janyu, he says that he isn't over with the Nonaka's and that they can't find Rika or Henry either. He wants to meet us at his place to organize a search while he calls some friends of his to check something."

"Alright, just let me get ready." Says Mrs. Matsuki numbly, as she grabs a coat and a flashlight then follows her husband out the door.

Real World (Chihiro's house):

"Chihiro, that was Mr. Matsuki, he was wondering if Takato, Rika, or Henry were here since they can't find any of them, do you have any idea where they may be?" Chihiro, who was sitting in the Study with Kohaku trying to beat him at the Chinese checkers that her parents had bought for them to play, looked up.

They have disappeared, I hope they didn't decide to look in the forest, Yubaba is probably still angry that I got to go free and that Kohaku left because of me.
I don't think that they would last very long in the spirit world if that was the case. I probably shouldn't worry mom about that thought, besides, I am pretty sure that those three wouldn't go into that forest without a reason and could probably take care of themselves in most situation, normal situations that is.

"No mom" Answered Chihiro, while going back to the game. "You don't think that they may have gone to the spirit world do you, because if they did they would be in serious danger." Said Kohaku, as he moved his piece one space to the left.

"I hope not but if they did they will need help" Chihiro then moves her piece into position to win the game. "I'll go out and look for them and make sure that their parents don't accidentally stumble onto the spirit world and end up pigs like yours did." Kohaku replied as he moved one of his pieces to block.

"Thanks Kohaku, I just hope that they are all right." Chihiro moves her piece one space to the right. "It's no problem Chihiro, they may be strange but they are our friends." Kohaku moves another piece and completely blocks Chihiro's piece ending the game as a draw.

"I better go now Chihiro, I might be late tonight so keep your window open so that I don't have to wake your parents." Kohaku spoke as he got up to leave. "Be careful Kohaku, I don't want you to get hurt." Chihiro states as she gets up and opens the window.

"I'll be careful Chihiro you don't have to worry." With that Kohaku went to his spirit form and flew out the opened window into the night air.

Real World (Outside):

Kohaku quietly flew out above the homes, he looked down and searched for the Tamers' parents, he saw them on the edge of the forest containing the tunnel that acted as an entrance to the spirit world. He flew down quietly and landed in a near by tree, hiding in the foliage so that he could see them but they could not see him and watched them to make sure that they did not stray to far into the forest. Most of them were looking for and yelling to their children, hoping that they were within earshot and could answer or use their voices to return home, but two of them were talking and their conversation surprised him.

Mrs. Matsuki franticly darted between the trees, nearly screaming her son's name, "TAKATO, ANSWER ME TAKATO! Where is he, Janyu, you don't think that they went back do you?"

Janyu Wong, surprised by the question answered the first thing that came to mind, "To Shinjuku?"

Mrs. Matsuki, turned from the surprised Monster Maker, "I didn't think of that but no, I was thinking about that other world"

Other world? Have they been to the Spirit World before? Was that what I sensed from them before? Was that where they got those strange devices? Though Kohaku as he almost slipped out of the tree in surprise, but what he heard next surprised him even more.

Looking around Janyu to make sure that no one he could see, that didn't already know couldn't hear, replied, "The Digital world, I already checked that, you know the friends I was calling earlier were the monster makers and Yamaki. I wanted to make sure that they hadn't somehow created a portal here but Yamaki said that they had found no activity at all in this area related to the digital world. In fact that he said that their partners are back, I was going to wait until we found them before I told everyone."

That was when the searchers turned to look at the crashing sound coming from one of the nearby trees, the crashing was Kohaku falling down the tree as the branch he was standing on broke, he had been to stunned by the conversation that he had just overheard to notice the branch cracking and to surprised by the sudden break to fly off to safety. Everyone turned just in time to see a white dragon with a blue mane fall out of a tree and hit the ground, hard. Kohaku, dazed by the fall unthinkingly returned to his human form in front of the searchers.

Rika's mother Rumiko gasped at the sight, her mother who was standing beside her muttered a small "Oh my", Mrs. Matsuki who was beside Janyu and closest to the tree screamed while her husband quickly ran over to comfort and protect her. Janyu Wong was the first to recover from the shock quickly asked "What are you?"

Kohaku, who was too dazed to think of an explanation answered truthfully, "I am a spirit" bringing more confusion. Finally shaking off the shock Kohaku sat down and tried to explain to the shaken up searchers about the spirit world and himself.

"I am a spirit, the spirit of the Kohaku river actually, I got separated and lost when they diverted my river, I traveled to the spirit world, where I was tricked by an evil witch into becoming her apprentice, I was forced to stay with her for a few years because she took my name from me, I worked for her and became her apprentice, she taught me some of her magic but mostly used me to steal for herself. If it had not been for Chihiro coming and returning my name to me I would still be with that witch or most likely dead. I am sorry for scaring you and listening in on your conversation." Silence covered the little group until Kohaku spoke up with a question. "If I may ask, what or where is the Digital world?"

Janyu Wong cleared his throat, "A few years ago I and a few friends of mine worked on a project trying to create artificial life, the beings we created were the first Digimon, the digital world is the dimensional plane they live on and come from. The digital world and the digimon are made from computer data, information that can be sent, received, or deleted with the right programs. Unfortunately we were unable to complete the project because the people we were working for cut off our funding, when we stopped the project, the digimon in the digital world were left to fend for themselves. Later the programs we used to create the digimon were made into games for kids, the games were based off of the cartoon Digimon series, and the changes made to the programs for the games also affected the real digimon and digital world. Then recently, certain digimon developed the ability or gained enough strength to break through the barrier between the real world and the digital world, allowing them to 'Bio-merge' into the real world, some of these digimon became 'partners' with our children and helped them fight off the digimon and other digital entities who wanted to cause damage to the real world. The rest you probably overheard."

"Alright, that answers my question, I think but if they are not in that 'digital world' or anywhere around here then may I make a suggestion on where they might be?" Kohaku said quietly to help calm them and show that he didn't want to hurt them.

Rumiko's mother, who was taking all of this a little better than the others, nodded her head, "Go ahead, anything if it may help us to find them.".

Kohaku to a breath then said, "I think they may be in the spirit world."

Zeniba's Pov:

Zeniba was sitting in her rocker by the fire, No-face was making tea for her while she took a break from her chores. Unlike Yubaba, Zeniba liked working with her hands and only used her magic when necessary, and because of this she gets tired out.

As No-face brought her some tea she absently stated "The wind is blowing in a strange direction today, I wonder if my sister is up to something again." She sighs remembering how much trouble her sister caused for little Chihiro and her family. "No-face could you take care of the house while I go out for a little while, I going to see if I can visit Chihiro and Kohaku today, at least for a little while anyways" Zeniba asks as she gets up and goes to a cupboard, as No-face quietly nods to her she gets out a small box, she opens the box and inside is a little paper doll.

No-face just nods, his mask smiling happily, "Thank you No-face, you have been a real help to me since you came here with Chihiro.".

Then Zeniba throws the paper doll to the winds, and disappears.

End Chapter 3