Soft, wet bubbles pop against his face, reminding him of youth and sunny summer days, Zack Ryder grimacing as he's pulled towards awareness despite his best attempt. "No, stop, I just wanna sleep," he mutters, slurred as he swats around in front of him, trying to smack his best friend, Chi, but he misses and grunts, rolling over onto his side.

The voice that greets him is soft, almost girly, and his eyes shoot open as he scrambles away, about to freak out over having a one-night stand while on tour- but his fingers are tangled up in dewy grass, the sky bright blue overhead, and he frowns, sense slowly coming back to him as he looks around. "Zack!" that voice exclaims again, a small, orange rodent- hamster maybe?- with wildly flapping wings and soft blue eyes floating up within his eye range as he gapes. "I'm Patamon!" He continues to chatter as he lands on top of Zack's head, grinning down at him. "I'm so happy to meet you! I'm your partner!"

"My-my what? Is this a dream?" he asks, scooping the creature off of his head and staring at him in utter confusion. "You're the weirdest tag partner I've ever seen."

He giggles in his hands, shaking his head. "Not tag partner! I'm your Digimon partner!" As Zack continues to gape at him, he trills and once more flies onto his head, seeming comfortable atop of his spikey hair.

Zack pats the young Digimon behind his weird wing-like ears, stroking the soft fur there as he stirs in his arms, wide blue eyes opening in a tired blink. "Hey, sleepy head," he greets him. "What d'ya say we get this show on the road, bro?" When Patamon nods, he holds him closer and chuckles, falling into step once more with the others, staring at Ziggler as he and Impmon debate something, barely paying attention to much else around them. Their latest mission had been for this very zone, so they hadn't had to travel via Digiport... but it had called for a fair amount of walking, Zack wishing for a few minutes that Patamon was bigger so he could fly the group of them to wherever that little dot on Seth's digivice is telling them they have to go.

"How much further?" Ziggler asks, surprising Zack at vocalizing what the broski himself had just been wondering.

"Not long," Seth mutters, which is little consolation to any of them, as he had been saying the exact same thing for the last hour or more. Except that this time it ends up being true, all of them coming to a stop at the bottom of a tree and looking up into its branches. "The dot's right here."

"Well, this seems peaceful enough," Dolph offers, which of course is famous last words as, just as soon as the words leave his mouth, a yellow laser slices into the ground at Dolph's feet, causing all of them to jump in fright.

"Get away!" a young sounding creature yells down at them. "This is my home! No one else's!" More wildly shot lasers rain down upon them and the group of them start scattering, trying to avoid the attacks.

"Damn!" Zack hisses, finally ducking behind a downed tree and glancing down at Patamon. "What was that?!"

"It sounded like Sparrowmon," he says doubtfully, fluttering up slightly to catch another glimpse of that tree. "Sparrowmon!?" Zack somehow hears it first, only just grabbing Patamon and pulling him back down to his chest before another murderous yellow beam stabs the air over their heads, Patamon's eyes wide with horror as he realizes just how close a call that had been. "Thanks, Zack," he breathes, gulping a little. He stays hidden, but not quite ready to give up on his friend yet. "Sparrowmon! Why are you attacking us?"

Zack glances up, trying to locate the others, when Sparrowmon responds, his voice shaking harder the longer he talks. "These copse of trees used to be guarded by Dominimon, but he disappeared ages ago. Since then, trees have fallen, my fellow winged Digimon have all been destroyed or left, leaving this singular tree behind with no one left to watch over it except for me. For that reason, no one is allowed to touch it! Stay away!"

Patamon closes his eyes briefly before he looks up at Zack, a sort of understanding passing between them despite how short the amount of time they've actually known each other is. He taps Zack's arms with his ears as he takes off, flying in loops towards the tree. He can sense Zack's anxiety from here but he is the only winged Digimon in the group so he ignores everything, including his own worry, and lands smoothly on a branch across from Sparrowmon. The laser beams immediately stop and Patamon floats a little closer, holding his paws up in deference. "We're not here to hurt you," he tells the shaking creature. "We were notified there's a problem here, and we would like to help you."

Sparrowmon sniffs and scrubs at his face with the back of his gloved hand, the armored plates along his body that looks like sharp feathers when the sun gleams on them in certain angles flexing smoothly with each movement. "You can't help me, no one can! I- we need Dominimon!"

Patamon stares at him, hesitantly flying closer to him. "Sparrowmon, think for a minute. Who keeps destroying these trees? Is it any Digimon in particular or..."

Sparrowmon chokes, his eyes shining bright in the faint sunlight able to make it past the trees. "I... I don't know," he gasps out painfully, shaking his head as power fluxes through the laser in his hand. "I don't..." Patamon's just touched him when he seems to convulse, almost falling off of the branch. "NO!" Horrible flashes of memory returns to him, news- news of Dominimon's defeat, his data streaming over them, through them. And Sparrowmon had hidden by some bushes surrounding a nearby pond, watching fitfully as his fellow winged Digimon had fallen, destroyed as quickly as Dominimon had been, the trees snapping apart at the roots before him, and... he's all that's left, the evil Digimon leaving with loud laughter and smug yells, celebrating in destroying yet another part of this sector. This tree, spurred into creation by the data of his fellow Digimon, had formed, tall and strong and beautiful, and he's sure when he sits in it that he can feel Dominimon's strength as well. The memories that he had so carefully blocked out until now done, he does fall then, not caring enough to stop his rapid descent or anything else. But it doesn't matter, there is little to no physical pain as he lands in warm, unfamiliar arms. "Dominimon?" he mutters, struggling to open his tear-filled eyes.

"No, bro, sorry, it's not Dominimon," Zack mutters to him, sympathy in his deep green eyes as he cradles the trembling creature in his arms, looking up as Patamon rests on his head once more. "C'mon, let's get you to Luke, he might be able to help you."

"No, no," Sparrowmon sobs and shudders, suddenly regaining some of his fight. "I can't leave the tree, it's the only- the only thing remaining- I have to stay-"

But Zack holds on tighter, Patamon flying down into his line of sight. Sparrowmon stops struggling, their light eyes meeting as Zack's partner smiles kindly at him. "We just want to help you find peace, Sparrowmon. This tree isn't going anywhere. If you would like, we can come by and check on it to make sure it's alright, but I don't think it's a good idea for you to continue to stay here." Patamon stares at him worriedly, not liking the signs he's seeing right now. Destabilization of one's data can happen so quickly that it's snuck on many Digimon Patamon has known over the years and now that he has the means to make a difference, he's determined to keep it from happening to Sparrowmon. "Come on, please."

Sparrowmon wipes again at his eyes, glancing back at the tree. "Dominimon..." He gasps faintly as the bark seems to flash, somehow, someway, and he thinks he's losing his mind. But the longer he stares at it, the more comforted he feels, as if the Digimon he had respected so thoroughly is giving his permission to his leaving this area. Looking back at Zack, he nods lowly. "Al- alright. I'll come with you."

Zack nods, grinning as he glances around. The others had hidden when the laser show had begun, then stayed back to give Zack and Patamon time to defuse the situation the rest of the way. Now that that's done, they recollect themselves and reform the group to walk back to the main Digiport where Luke is typically nearby, hoping that he can find a way to help Sparrowmon, relocate him to another place with more winged Digimon such as himself. Zack chuckles and watches as the two young Digimon play over his head, Patamon slowly bringing a playful side out in Sparrowmon, who had grown sober and wan after such a lengthy period of solitude.