Things are quiet without Coronamon by his side. Shinsuke knows- he hopes it's only temporary, but still. It leaves a muffled ache in his chest every time he looks down to find the little fire beast not standing there, eager to look up and share a quick smile with him before resuming whatever they were doing. He closes his eyes and tenses his hand into a fist, exhaling slowly. "I'm sorry," he whispers under his breath, bowing his head. "I wish I had done more to protect you."

"Hey, Shinsuke," Morrison calls out. "We're here. Anyone else coming?"

Shinsuke is pulled from his thoughts as Mike and John join him. "I think-" he starts to say, when AJ bounds up, Intercontinental title gleaming from his shoulder.

"Well, hello, boys! We ready for another day of digital fun? Huh?" His grin is wide, and annoying, and Shinsuke falls quiet as Miz gets distracted by the title belt that always seems to draw him towards it. Only Morrison seems to notice or care, glancing over at Shinsuke a couple of times while AJ and Miz bicker.

After awhile, Gable joins them, his comments and suggestions only adding to the cacophony around them. Shinsuke takes a deep breath and briskly claps his hands together to get the others' attention. "We go now," he informs them rigidly, turning to the digivice and, without waiting for their response, lifts his digivice. "Digiport open!"

If earth feels weird without a partner by one's side, the digiworld feels even worse. Shinsuke feels vulnerable, even with the other four surrounding him, and he truly, utterly misses his partner's calming presence. Especially when Mike and AJ continue arguing, though at a more moderate volume- which for Miz really is saying something- and it's all he can focus on as they traipse through the land leading towards the flashing dot on the screen. Finally he tires of it, his last bit of patience snapping, and he turns towards them with a dangerous grin on his face. "Excuse me," he says, voice tense. "Would you mind shutting up for five minutes?"

It's not like him, he's usually laidback, ignores anything around him that has nothing to do with him, but AJ and Miz's voices have been grating on him since they spotted each other, and it's not getting better, it's only getting worse. The looks on their faces, and on Gable and Morrison's face, is almost worth it as he glowers down at them for a long, tense moment before turning back to continue walking. His lips twitch up into a smirk as the silence lingers behind him, nodding quietly to himself before he approaches the dot on the digivice.

It's not a village, it's a lake, and he stands by the water and squints into the sun, trying to see any reason for the distress call. "This makes no sense, there's nothing here," he mumbles. The water is calm, the sky is serene, the breeze is soft against his flesh-

Then there's a sudden yell and sharp pain bites up his spine, causing his knees to buckle as his body falls forward. He kneels there, lips parted in agony as the others run up. "Shinsuke! Are you ok?! What was that?"

He can barely focus on their voices, much less their words, as his body slowly unlocks from the pain that had seized it. He slowly lifts his head and looks up, grimaces as he stands. His eyes narrow and he sees it, unsure how he'd missed it before. Ignoring their questions and concerns, he pushes past the others and walks towards a cliff, peering into a cavern that they'd all missed while walking towards the lake. "I know you're in here," he says, braced for another attack. He steps forward, ducking down slightly to make it inside, and there it is- a flash of blue, something red striking at him. He avoids this time, dancing backwards just in time, and smirks as the air around his face is disrupted. "There you are. Gaomon."

The young, blue bear digimon is obviously struggling, his face twisted into a snarl, only his eyes betraying his fear and horror at his own actions. Shinsuke stares down at him as he attacks again, both of them toppling out of the cavern as Shinsuke avoids once more and Gaomon continues trying to land a second strike. "I will kill you all!" he roars out, and Shinsuke shakes his head.

"No," he says quietly, "you will not." The next time Gaomon lunges at him, Shinsuke is ready, sweeps out and lands a solid kick straight to Gaomon's skull, downing the rookie digimon immediately.

Gaomon gasps and flails, trying again to attack, but Shinsuke kneels next to him and presses his digivice to his forehead, holding it there. Gaomon screams out in anger and frustration, but Shinsuke's grip is sure, his focus determined, and everything quiets when Shinsuke's digivice begins to glow, a healing kind of force thrumming through it, into Gaomon. Gaomon's entire body reflects the light coming from the device, and before too long, he slumps into the sand, the anger disappearing from his countenance and leaving behind a horrified, young digimon trembling under Shinsuke's hands. "I- I'm so sorry!" he cries out before bursting into loud, horrible sobs.

"It's ok," Shinsuke whispers, stroking Gaomon's fur, trying to sooth him. "It's all going to be ok."

Later, Luke joins Shinsuke and smiles at him. "Gaomon is going to be just fine," he says. "He will return to his village later, and I may send Ophanimon to make sure there are no further pockets of darkness there waiting to possess any innocent beings, but for now, I see nothing to be concerned with. That Gaomon owes a lot to you."

Shinsuke hums, feeling the lingering ache up his spine from where Gaomon had snuck in a shot on him. "He was young. I wasn't going to just destroy him when I felt there was something better I could do."

Luke nods, folding his hands together behind his back. "Speaking of, there's something back at the caves for you," he says idly and Shinsuke stares at him, hope growing in his chest.

"Oh?" he says quietly, and when Luke doesn't offer him anything further, he takes a deep breath and slowly turns to walk back towards Luke's hideout.

It's on a small pillow, on a smooth, flat rock, vibrating slowly in place as if sensing his presence. Shinsuke stares at the red spotted digiegg and swallows hard, falling to his knees before it in what feels like slow motion. He reaches out and strokes it with his knuckles, immediately overwhelmed by that connection he's based so much of the last few years of his life on

He lifts the digiegg and holds it close to his chest, stroking it, feeling the power thrumming inside of it. The exhaustion and lingering sadness in his eyes ease as he smiles down at it. "Coronamon," he breathes out, through he knows it'll be awhile before his friend reaches that form again. "Welcome back."