AUTHOR'S NOTES:

The last few days have been… interesting, to say the least. I'm posting this chapter ahead of schedule just in case anyone could benefit from a small distraction.

If you're affected by the US Election, please feel free to hang out here. This is a politics-free zone. Don't forget to take some time out and take a break from doom-scrolling every once in a while, and most importantly please take care of yourself.

Stay safe, stay well, and I hope you enjoy today's update.

LOVE AND KNOWLEDGE

Taichi sighed as he stuffed his damp towel in to his gym bag with the rest of his soccer gear. Practice had been exhausting. He'd never realised just how much he relied upon Daisuke's seemingly endless energy and enthusiasm to keep himself going during practice, and it had been difficult to remain focused on the rest of the team when the quiet in the wake of Daisuke's absence – especially with no explanation – was puzzling.

Taichi sighed and tried to refocus his thoughts. He had more important things to worry about. Like dinner. Reheat the stew from last week or try to whip up some semblance of edible food from the scraps in the cupboard? Not that his father would be there for it or his mother would eat it. Still, he would wrap up a plate for the former and set it in front of the latter nonetheless before disappearing to his room to avoid the awful buzz of the television that rattled through their empty apartment.

He was just about to pull his goggles back over his hair when he heard the pounding of footsteps in the distance. The rest of the team had showered and left long ago while Taichi had spent some extra time on the field to clear his head before packing up and turning in. The only people hanging around the school at this time of the evening were the custodians (who were far too meticulous to run anywhere) and, on some occasions, Koushiro and the computer club, though they were all the way on the other side of the building.

The door to the changing rooms flew open and the footsteps drew closer.

"Taichi? Taichi are you in here?" Taichi frowned.

"Daisuke?" he called back as the boy ran past the end of the lockers. He quickly backtracked and leant heavily against his knees.

"There you are!" he panted. "Listen – I have a message-"

"Daisuke what happened to your goggles?" Taichi asked. The glass in Daisuke's prized goggles was fractured and, in the case of the left lens, half-missing. Taichi frowned; the boy was known to be hot-headed, especially when it came to sports, but they both knew too well the consequences of Daisuke picking another fight this season. Daisuke's shaking hands reached up to his hair and he slowly pulled the goggles down to examine them.

"Aw man!" he groaned, prodding the broken lenses with a forlorn sigh. "I can't believe this! Hikari could've at least told me-"

"What did you say?" The name made his heart race, like always, only this time it was coming from someone who'd never met her. His stomach twisted painfully as Daisuke looked up with a grin, as though immensely proud of something.

"That's why I came to find you! Hikari told me to t-"

Taichi didn't remember reaching for the boy's shirt, nor could he later recall throwing Daisuke against the lockers, but in the blink of an eye he found his face inches away from Daisuke's.

"Where did you hear that name?"

"Taichi – you're hurting me-" Daisuke spluttered. Only then did Taichi release his grip. He stepped back, mumbling an apology before running a hand over his face. Daisuke cleared his throat and put his goggles back in his hair. "I'm sorry, Taichi, I didn't mean to upset you-"

"Go home, Daisuke," Taichi murmured. He clenched his eyes shut, but the mere mention of her name brought his worst nightmares to the surface and they were playing out before him in a jumbled mess of memories. He fumbled through his pocket for his phone. He needed to get home. No, not home. Somewhere else. Somewhere away. He needed Sora.

"Taichi," Daisuke said softly. His voice sounded miles away. "I'm sorry, I-"

"Forget it, Daisuke," Taichi muttered. "I have to go-"

"Wait! I need to show you this-"

"It can wait-"

"No, Taichi." And the determination in Daisuke's voice made him stop. He lifted his head, finding Daisuke planted firmly in his way with his hands outstretched. "You need to look at these."

And he did. Maybe it was the note of urgency in Daisuke's voice, or maybe it was some small rational part of his brain that finally registered Daisuke's words (Hikari had sent Daisuke to find him, and she couldn't do that if she was-), but he found himself staring down at Daisuke's hands. He didn't recognise the blue and white device on the right, but his heart stopped at the sight of the pink and gold pendant to the left. He reached towards it, his fingers trembling as he picked it out of Daisuke's palm, running his fingers over the engraving of his sister's crest. It was impossible… the tags had been destroyed in the battle against Apokarimon, and yet…

"Hikari." Her name came out in a choked whisper as his eyes traced each petal of the angular flower. He heard Daisuke breathe a sigh of relief.

"So… you really do have a sister?" Daisuke asked quietly. Taichi nodded, still staring at the crest. "Hikari's really nice, Taichi. I don't think Tailmon likes me all that much though." Taichi stifled a sob at their names.

"She's alive," he breathed. Daisuke made a strangled sort of choking noise.

"Wait – she wasn't always?" he stammered, but Taichi wasn't listening. His phone was buzzing, and he flipped it open to find a message from Koushiro.

Are you still at soccer? Meet me in the computer lab.

He didn't need to be told twice. Without a word to Daisuke he snatched up his bag and tore from the changing room, barely able to hear Daisuke calling his name over the roar of blood in his ears. His numb fingers clutched at the crest as he took the stairs two – three at a time before skidding round the corner. The light in the computer lab was on, but as Taichi drew closer he could hear voices. He cursed; Koushiro was there, but there were at least two others, and Taichi couldn't risk talking about the Digital World in front of strangers. He tore the door open regardless; perhaps the sight of a half-mad upperclassman would be enough to scare whatever juniors Koushiro was talking to.

The room fell silent. Koushiro rose from his chair, and Taichi's heart skipped a beat at the excited grin that crept over his face. Footsteps echoed up the corridor behind Taichi.

"Wow… man…" Daisuke wheezed. "You run… fast." Taichi ignored him and glanced from Koushiro to the other two occupants of the room; a tall slender girl with lilac hair and younger boy with close-cropped dark hair and sombre green eyes. Taichi quickly glanced back to Koushiro and tilted his head towards them.

"Could we talk?" he asked. "Alone?" Koushiro shook his head.

"There's no need," he stated. He lifted his hand to show Taichi two devices – like Daisuke's, though where his was blue these new digivices (because what else could they have been?) were red and yellow. Taichi glanced back up to Koushiro's face, unable to ignore the excitement sparking behind his stoic expression. "If I'm right, then it would appear that we can go back."

Koushiro's guess had been half-correct. The gate appeared to have been opened again, but seemed intermittent. Daisuke had shown them the programme that had taken him to the Digital World and back, but no amount of thrusting the new digivices towards towards the screen (nor Koushiro's frantic tinkering) had been able to get them back through.

Taichi, unable to do anything but wait, had floored Daisuke with questions about Hikari. How was she? Did she look okay? Was she happy? Why hadn't she come back with Daisuke? Taichi had gotten more than he'd bargained for, as Daisuke had told him of the Digimon Kaiser and his dark rings.

The new threat didn't sit well with Taichi, and when he and Koushiro met up with Sora in the park later that evening Taichi couldn't stop thinking about Hikari fending for herself in the Digital World. Alone.

"She's not totally alone," Sora said quietly. Koushiro was sitting at a bench nearby with his laptop hooked up to his phone, frantically typing to Mimi to tell her what was happening. Sora and Taichi were sitting on the swings; Taichi's knuckles were white as he gripped the chains too tightly in an attempt to try and stay calm. (It wasn't working.) "She has Tailmon; she's still at adult level. She might not be as strong as Angewomon, but she can keep Hikari safe."

"But she can't digivolve," Taichi countered. Daisuke had glossed over it so quickly that Taichi had almost missed it; it was apparent that Daisuke didn't really understand the significance of it, though he had gone on to try and explain a weird kind of evolution involving some kind of egg (and had managed to derail Koushiro completely when he'd pulled a small computer out of his pocket and shown them the Digimental of Courage floating on the screen).

"We don't know that for certain. Daisuke could have been confused," Sora offered, reaching across to squeeze his hand gently. "And even if that really is the case, Tailmon is still strong. Have you forgotten the time she practically wiped the floor with us?" He knew it was meant to be reassuring, but visions of Vamdemon's castle swam in his mind and he couldn't quite bring himself to smile. Tailmon had been stronger than them once, but they'd been weak and inexperienced. It was hardly an impressive benchmark when compared to some of the enemies they had fought since; enemies that they'd battled as a team and still almost lost. He closed his eyes and squeezed her hand in return.

"I just want to see them," he sighed. "All of them. Yamato, Takeru, Jou… We should have waited for them. We should have stayed behind to look for them-"

"I disagree," Koushiro interrupted without looking away from his laptop. His fingers never broke their rhythm against the keys even as he continued. "It was never our destiny to remain in the Digital World; we needed to come home. Having all of us come home together would have been ideal, but perhaps this was our fate. Perhaps we needed to be divided." Destiny. Taichi hated that word.

"What do you mean?" Sora asked.

"Well, I was thinking about what happened today," Koushiro continued. "Daisuke found his digivice – or, rather, his digivice found him – and he made his way to the Digital World on his own. Imagine if he hadn't run in to Hikari? I wouldn't doubt that he would have landed himself in some serious trouble, and there would have been nobody aware of how to reach him or even that he was missing in the first place."

"So why couldn't we all stay?" Taichi asked.

"I'm getting to that," Koushiro said, bobbing his head. "What if Daisuke had returned here with nobody to guide him? He would have had so many unanswered questions. And no offence, Taichi, but he seems just as… impulsive as you were. People seem to have forgotten everything to do with the Digital World – a great convenience, in my opinion – so can you imagine what would have happened if Daisuke had gone around asking questions? People would have called him crazy. Or, worse, they would have believed him, and the Digital World would have become the focus of a worldwide experiment." He closed his laptop and slipped it in to its carry bag with practised ease before standing and straightening his jacket.

"I believe," he continued, "that we are here to guide Daisuke and the others, to help them defend the Digital World as we did. Four of us from this world, and four in the other." Taichi folded his arms around the chains of the swing and kicked the toe of his sneaker in to the dirt.

"Well maybe you remember it a little differently, but we didn't have any guides and we got on just fine," he scoffed.

"But, Taichi," Sora countered, "we were all thrown in at the deep end together. We didn't have the choice to go home until we'd already come to terms with what was going on, and by then we understood that perhaps it wasn't the best idea to tell everyone about the Digital World. Daisuke seems to be able to come and go almost as he pleases."

"I thought that too," Koushiro said with a nod. "After examining the programme on the computer in the lab, it does appear to be a portal between our world and the Digital World – much like the gates that we used to travel between worlds, but in a new form. It would appear that this new gate is locked by default until it receives a valid key."

"A new digivice," Sora offered. Koushiro nodded.

"I wasn't able to completely open a gate, but the program was definitely reacting to Daisuke's digivice and the others'. When I tried to activate the programme with my digivice, I might as well have been holding up a rock."

"So what do we do?" Taichi asked.

"I propose that we return to the computer lab after school tomorrow with Daisuke, Miyako and Iori. It's possible that the gate may open at the same time as it did today."

"Tomorrow?" Taichi exclaimed. Tomorrow was a long way away, and a lot could happen in that time. What if this Kaiser took Hikari? What about Agumon and the others? He clutched at the Crest of Light through his shirt with a scowl. He didn't want to wait; he wanted to see his sister.

"I know you're frustrated, Taichi," Koushiro said quietly. "I won't pretend that I know exactly what you're going through, but I miss them too. We all do. We'll find them, I promise."

Daisuke wasn't sure what love felt like, but he hoped it felt something like this – a warm, fuzzy feeling in his chest that made him smile and sigh. He stared through the window, absently writing her name, and whenever he blinked he saw her warm smile bathed in firelight.

Taichi had found him before class that morning and told him in no uncertain terms that they were meeting in the computer lab after school. Daisuke hadn't complained, especially if it meant another chance to see Hikari and to introduce Taichi to Veemon. When his mother had called him at morning break to ask what he wanted for dinner, Daisuke had hurriedly told her that he had to stay behind after school ("Detention again, Daisuke?" his mother had sighed) and wasn't sure when he'd be home.

Another bell. Another victory peal. Another day over. Daisuke bolted from class, his bag close to his chest as he squeezed through the crowds.

"Excuse me! Sorry! Excuse me – hey! Move!"

He finally staggered in to the computer lab several minutes later, dishevelled and out of breath from fighting through waves of students. A sign had been placed on the door which read: Private Class in Session. Please do not enter. Daisuke hesitated, his hand hovering over the handle. He was awkward enough in the computer lab without interrupting a private lesson, but he didn't want to keep Taichi and the others waiting.

"Oi, Daisuke!"

He jumped at the sound of his name to see Taichi making his way down the hall. Daisuke grinned and eagerly waved back, though his stomach fell a little when he realised that Taichi wasn't alone. Takenouchi Sora was with him, and when she waved at Daisuke he forced himself to give a polite smile back. It made sense, of course – Hikari had mentioned her name – but Daisuke had been kinda hoping that it would just be him and Taichi, and he could reunite his idol with his sister and then they would all go out and get pizza.

Taichi breezed past the sign on the door and motioned for Daisuke to follow. Inside the room was empty aside from a single figure sitting at one of the computers, his face inches from the screen.

"Careful, Koushiro, you'll get square eyes," Sora laughed. The boy, Koushiro, turned towards her with narrowed eyes.

"I wouldn't need to sit so close if the school would invest in some decent hardware," he grumbled. He turned away from the screen, rubbing at the bridge of his nose with one hand while the other gestured towards the screen. "We may have a problem, the Digital Gate is-" The computer made a strange chirping sound, and when Koushiro turned back towards it his eyes bulged. "What the – The gate opened!"

"Isn't that what gates do?" Taichi asked. His tone was lighthearted but his shoulders were tense, and Daisuke saw his fingers holding something in a white-knuckled grip. Koushiro scowled.

"Yes," he replied curtly, "but before Daisuke came in the program was completely unresponsive. It looks like-" The door flew open and Miyako and Iori barrelled in to the room.

"Mr Fujiyama is coming!" Miyako squeaked. Koushiro paled, and Taichi and Sora shared a funny look.

"Mr Fujiyama?" Sora asked. "Why is that a bad thing?"

"He sometimes supervises the computer club," Miyako panted. "I told him Koushiro was running the club today, so we weren't completely unsupervised, but I think he was following us here."

"Then we'd better get going," Taichi said firmly. "Daisuke, how does this thing work?" Daisuke pushed himself away from the computer with a grin (Yagami Taichi was asking him for help! Yagami Taichi was asking him for help!). He stood tall and puffed out his chest.

"Follow my lead!" he boasted, though as he stood in front of the glowing monitor he quickly realised that he didn't actually know how he had gotten through the gate. Or how he had gotten back. He tried to think, but it was difficult to do with so many eyes staring at him and the silence pressing heavily at his back. Think, Daisuke! Hadn't Tailmon said something? Something about his digivice? He glanced down at it and grinned as an idea quickly formed in his head. Footsteps were echoing up the corridor as he lifted his digivice towards the screen.

"Here we go!"

He felt like he was falling again, although this time it felt familiar and almost fun. The feeling lasted for a split second which stretched for an eternity before the gate threw him on to soft, green grass. Behind him, Taichi, Sora and Koushiro kept their balance and landed on their feet, but Miyako and Iori tumbled to their knees, gasping.

"Intense, right?" Daisuke asked as he offered a now-gloved hand to Iori. The younger boy nodded and pulled himself to his feet, though he still seemed somewhat shaken. Daisuke noticed that his clothes had changed too, and Iori now wore an off-white tunic which fastened down one side with maroon bands at his wrists that matched the maroon of his short pants. Iori quickly noticed the change too, and he twisted and tugged at his new clothes.

"It's comfortable," he announced, pulling at his sleeves.

"Ah! Me too!" Miyako cried, tugging at her clothes. Her plain dress and leggings had been replaced by a pale blue turtleneck with long sleeves that ended under white gloves. Red cotton pants that billowed around her thighs were tucked in to tan boots and secured with a silver belt, and the strap of a green backpack sliced through her tan vest jacket from shoulder to hip. Her glasses remained, large and round, but the bandana she had been using to tie back her hair had been replaced by a coppery-orange helmet. She tugged at her vest with a grin. "I'm dressed like one of the cool kids!" Daisuke snorted.

"Not sure what cool kids you've been lookin' at," he sniggered. Miyako scowled.

"Oh, like you can talk, goggle-breath!" Daisuke laughed again.

"What does that even mean?" he asked. Her cheeks turned red and she stomped her foot.

"It means your goggles are lodged in your throat because they're so far up your-"

"Miyako," Iori murmured softly, "perhaps now isn't the time." Daisuke was ready to tell the kid to mind his own business when he realised Iori was staring out over the landscape, dumbstruck. Miyako quickly followed his gaze, and at once her anger faded as her jaw fell open.

"It's beautiful!" Daisuke looked around then, taking in the green hills that rolled lazily towards the horizon. There were no trees, no caves… The realisation made his heart sink.

"Wait…" he murmured. "This isn't where I was yesterday…"

"What do you mean?" Taichi asked sharply. Daisuke jumped and felt a nervous heat rush in to his cheeks.

"Well yesterday there were vines and trees and… other stuff," he stammered, trying his best to remember. Taichi turned away then, his dark eyes scanning the landscape as a troubled frown settled over his face like a storm cloud. He grit his teeth and ran forwards.

"Hikari!" he cried, cupping his hands to his mouth. "Hikari!"

"We should stay with him," said Sora as Koushiro called out for Taichi to be careful. "He'll only get himself in to trouble." While her tone was serious and her lips were pressed together in a thin line, Daisuke noticed her eyes were bright and her cheeks were flushed. She took off after Taichi and Koushiro. Daisuke followed next, with Miyako and Iori stumbling along behind them.

"Hikari!" Daisuke cried, adding his voice to Taichi's. "Veemon! Hikari! Hey – where are you?" He had no idea how far they were from the TV screen he'd left through yesterday, and no idea how to get there either. He was beginning to wonder if they'd appeared too far away for anyone to find them when a small voice floated towards him on the wind.

"Daisuke!"

A small blue blur crested the hill up ahead and Daisuke grinned.

"Veemon!" The sight of the little digimon gave Daisuke an extra burst of speed. Veemon was sprinting too, and when he was close enough he leapt from the ground and in to Daisuke's arms.

"Look! I brought friends with me!" Veemon exclaimed, pointing back over his shoulder. Two new digimon were flying towards them; a pink bird and a huge red-green insect that was bigger than a soccer ball.

"Piyomon!" Sora cried. She swept the bird out of the air in to a tight hug, spinning her wildly as she laughed in to the pink feathers. The bug made a beeline for Koushiro who crouched down to rest a hand on the digimon's armoured shell.

"Tentomon, I've missed you!"

"Well aren't you a sight for big, green eyes?" the digimon quipped, its voice mixed with a strange sort of buzzing that set Daisuke's teeth on edge. Daisuke caught sight of Taichi then, still staring out across the fields, and Daisuke swallowed his excitement.

"Veemon, where's Hikari?" He didn't miss how Taichi flinched at the name, his head turning sharply towards them.

"She and Tailmon went north to tell everyone how to break the Kaiser's rings. We didn't think you'd be back so soon!"

"Of course I was comin' back!" Daisuke exclaimed. "Why wouldn't I?" Veemon shrugged.

"Hikari said last time the gate shut for years," he answered. His face split in to a grin. "I'm just glad you came back to see me!" Daisuke tried to smile, but he caught sight of the disappointment that flashed across Taichi's face and his stomach plummeted. It was gone in an instant, replaced by a solemn sort of determination as Taichi turned his attention to the other digimon.

"Have either of you seen Agumon?" he asked. The two shared a look, and after a moment's hesitation Piyomon pulled away from Sora.

"We're sorry, Taichi," she began softly. "We heard it from some Caprimon who had to flee their village. Agumon was trying to help save them but he… he was captured by the Kaiser." Taichi's shoulders trembled and Daisuke saw the vein in his neck begin to throb as he clenched his jaw. It was a fair guess that Agumon was Taichi's partner. Daisuke held Veemon a little tighter.

"But don't worry, Taichi!" Tentomon said brightly. "If I know Agumon, he'll be fighting every second, especially if he hears that you're back." Taichi almost smiled, but it fell flat and ended up looking more like a grimace.

"Thanks, guys," he muttered tightly. He took in a sharp breath and pulled his shoulders back, turning his attention back towards the fields again. "We should probably head north if we want to find-"

"What's that?" Miyako shouted, pointing towards the sky. A shadow had emerged from a large cloud overhead and was speeding towards them. "Is that an Agumon?"

"That's not Agumon," Tentomon said, his voice very matter-of-fact, but it was quickly eclipsed by Taichi's bellow of: "RUN!"

Daisuke ran faster than he'd ever run before, but it wasn't fast enough to outstrip the deafening buzzing from the digimon overhead. Something snared his waist and he yelped as Taichi tackled him to the ground just in time to avoid the creature's gleaming scythes; they left deep gauges in the grass ahead before the digimon swooped back in to the sky with a shriek.

"What is that?!" Miyako wailed. Sora had pulled her out of the digimon's path and had wrapped her arms tightly around Miyako who was white as a sheet and trembling from head to toe. Piyomon was hovering in front of them, her eyes narrowed dangerously.

"That's Snimon," she answered.

"He's coming back around," Tentomon warned as he took to the air beside her. Snimon let out another shriek before swooping back towards them again, and Daisuke caught sight of the black band wrapped around its green waist.

"Veemon-"

"I see it, Daisuke!" he answered as Piyomon released a twisting spiral of emerald fire and Tentomon sent a jolt of lightning; both attacks splashed harmlessly against Snimon's shoulders, and Veemon leapt out of Daisuke's grip.

"Don't worry, you guys," he said as Veemon started running. "We've got this. Digiemental u- whoa!"

"Daisuke!" Taichi cried, surging towards him, but it was too late. With a sudden shudder the ground beneath Daisuke's feet gave way. The world tilted as Daisuke tumbled backwards, his arms spinning wildly in an attempt to stop his fall.

He grabbed the ledge by accident, and he was so surprised that he almost let it go again. He let out a bark of surprised laughter before making the mistake of glancing down. Instead of the bottom of a sinkhole, he found himself staring at the gleaming tip of a giant drill.

"Drimogemon!" Tentomon shouted, and Daisuke could only guess that was the name of the beast that had burrowed its way up from beneath the ground. It's body was cream on its legs and underbelly, while its back was covered with fine purple fur, and a black band encircled one of its legs. Another of the Kaiser's slaves.

"Hold on, Daisuke! I'm coming!"

"Veemon, wait!" But Veemon had already jumped in to the large ravine, diving head-first towards Drimogemon.

"V-headbutt!" He smashed his head against Drimogemon's, and the digimon reared back with a roar. Veemon bounced up from the attack, hanging in mid-air for a moment as he rubbed his head with a frown.

"Veemon, I've got you!" Daisuke called, reaching for his partner, but as one hand closed around Veemon's tail the other slipped from the ledge, and together they went crashing further into the ravine. Daisuke remembered grazing his elbow, banging his shoulder, and then a blow to the back of the head left him falling in darkness.

"N-No way…" Miyako's whimper was small and terrified as she trembled against Sora. "The ground just… opened up… and they're gone…" Sora tore her eyes away from the hole to focus on Miyako, spinning her sharply to make her look away. Miyako clenched her eyes shut as terrified tears began to run down her cheeks. "I wanna go home now!" she wailed. Sora squeezed her shoulders.

"We have to move," she said, but Miyako stood still and buried her face in her gloves. "Come on, Miyako, we have to go."

"But what about Daisuke?" Iori asked, his voice rasping and threatening to break. He was shaking too, his eyes fixed on the large hole despite Koushiro's hand on his shoulder. Piyomon and Tentomon had soared in to the air, doing what little they could to distract Snimon, though with only two of them against an adult-level digimon (and a strong adult, at that) they were tiring quickly.

"Taichi!" Sora shouted. He was kneeling next to the ravine, a hand still outstsretched from where he had reached for Daisuke, and at the sound of his name his head shot up. He glanced first to the sky, then back to the now-empty ravine, and then to Sora. He gave her a firm nod – the kind she hadn't seen since their last adventure in the digital world – and he quickly rose to his feet.

"We can't help Daisuke if we get hurt or captured," he said firmly, jogging towards them. "Daisuke has Veemon, and Veemon can armour evolve – he can get stronger – which is more than our digimon can do right now. We need to get moving and come back for Daisuke later. Let's go." Miyako was still sobbing in to her gloves, but she at least allowed Sora to take her elbow and start moving.

"Piyomon!" Sora called over her shoulder. She dropped down towards them like a rock, each stroke of her wings laboured.

"Are we leaving?" she asked. When Sora nodded she sagged in relief. "Good. I know just the place we can hide."

And so they'd taken off sprinting. Sora carried Piyomon in her arms and tried to ignore just how much she was almost enjoying the familiar adrenaline rush that came with running for their lives. Piyomon chirped out directions as they ran, guiding them over a nearby hillock an into a dense forest which seemed to sprout out of nowhere. Tentomon flew a few yards behind the group, updating them on just how dangerously close Snimon was to them (which wasn't helping Miyako's oncoming panic attack). Then, at last, Tentomon cried: "He's retreating!"

They ran a little while longer before Taichi finally allowed them to stop, and Sora leant heavily against a nearby tree. The low buzzing was quickly fading, and within seconds the world was silent aside from heavy breathing and the rustling of leaves. Sora let Piyomon drop to the floor as she massaged a stitch that had worked its way into her shoulder. Miyako fell heavily to her knees; she had stopped crying, at least, but there was still a shadow of terror lingering in her eyes. Iori was staring back the way they'd come, as though terrified that something else might jump out at them the moment they turned their backs.

Sora knew the feeling all too well.

"Come on!" Piyomon chirped, ruffling her feathers with a smile. "It's not far now!"

"What – is?" Koushiro wheezed.

"There's something we need to show you!" Tentomon buzzed.

"This way!" said Piyomon, taking flight. Sora laughed weakly.

"You might have had a rest, but we're exhausted." She glanced to Taichi who was slouched against a tree and staring down at his hand; running his thumb in small circles across the crest of light. After a moment he stuffed it back in to his pocket and pushed away from the tree.

"We should keep moving," he said. "Piyomon, Tentomon, what do you want to show us?" The two shared an uncertain glance before answering.

"We're… not sure," Piyomon answered at last, "but we know it's important!" Taichi pursed his lips, his fingers twitching within his pockets, before he nodded.

"Then let's go," he said. He glanced back through the trees. "If we stay here too long, Snimon might come after us again." Miyako shot to her feet with a terrified yelp as Iori stiffened, and Sora gave Taichi a pointed stare which he pretended to ignore as he turned away to follow Piyomon and Tentomon.

As they walked, Sora kept a wary eye on Taichi who kept a pace and a half in front of everyone else with stoic reserve, and Sora almost – almost – felt grateful that he didn't once glance back over his shoulder. If he had, he might have seen the smile she couldn't quite suppress as she watched after Piyomon. All at once it felt like an eternity and yet like no time at all since they had last been here; like everything had changed whilst at the same time staying the same. Through the trees she caught glimpses of abandoned vending machines and roadsigns pointing to nowhere, and the bizarre whimsy of the world that she had once found so strange now felt so comforting she wondered how she'd ever been able to leave it all behind.

Then again, she mused, it hadn't exactly been a choice.

Miyako's wail brought her back to reality, and as Sora pulled herself from her thoughts she found that they had come to a stop before a large temple. The tall, ancient stone had been fashioned into a tiered pyramid with miles of stairs carved in to the front face. Sora's heart fell as she eyed the climb.

"This things…" she began, glancing to Piyomon with a strained smile. "There's no way you can bring it down to us?" Piyomon shook her head and Sora sighed, following close behind Taichi as they began the ascent.

By the time they reached the top, Sora's thighs were burning and her calves felt like they were going to seize with every step. No game of tennis or soccer had ever taken so much of her breath away. She leant heavily against the stone pillars, resting sweaty palms on trembling knees, and was happy to see that she wasn't the worst in the group. In fact, with the exception of Taichi, she was perhaps the least affected by their climb. Iori stood firm at the top of the staircase, but there was no denying the flush to his cheeks and the slight sway to his steps while Koushiro and Miyako both looked worse for wear, with matching faces of tomato red and beads of sweat that rolled in to their eyes.

"What are they?" Taichi asked quietly, and Sora almost jumped at his voice. She shrugged her way out of her blazer, using it to mop the sweat from her eyes as she approached Taichi, following his line of sight.

At the far end of the temple sat two pillars of ornately carved stone, and each balanced a square, stone slab at the top. Upon the pillars sat two strange egg-like trinkets no bigger than a soccer ball, one silver and one gold. On the right, the 'egg' looked almost like a helmet, with two silver wings on either side. The other was sleeker, with a gold, panelled body and the tiniest silver horn on the top. But what was most surprising, Sora thought as they drew closer, was that the silver 'egg' bore the crimson crest of Love, whilst the gold had the crest of Knowledge engraved on its front.

Sora shared a wordless look with Koushiro as they came to a halt before the pedestals and Koushiro nodded. Together they stepped forwards, reaching out to the pedestals to wrap their hands around the strange eggs. The warm metal seared her fingers and sent fire racing up her arms; she yelped and snatched her hands away. Koushiro's fingers sparked and he shook out his hands with a series of muttered curses. She saw Taichi step forwards from the corner of her eye, but before he could ask if they were okay Sora had gripped the egg once more.

Nothing happened.

She tried again, tugging with all her strength, but it didn't budge. She stepped back with a huff, almost happy that Koushiro hadn't had any better luck. Piyomon and Tentomon both visibly deflated, and Piyomon nuzzled her head against Sora's burning calf with a sigh.

"We're sorry, Sora," she murmured. "We thought they were important." Sora crouched down, ignoring the ache in her thighs as she scratched the back of Piyomon's head.

"I'm sure they are," she said with a smile. "Did you try to move them?" Piyomon nodded.

"We've been trying since we found them, but we couldn't get them to move," she sighed. "We thought maybe they needed humans to move them, but we didn't know how to make you come back. We thought they would be for you because they had your crests on them." Taichi jerked suddenly, his head snapping from the eggs towards Miyako and Iori who were hovering some paces back. Sora could see the gears in his mind working overtime until at last he lifted his chin.

"Why don't you guys try?" he asked. Sora raised her eyebrow and glanced at Koushiro who was nodding.

"That's a good idea, Taichi," he said. "These could be digimentals, like the one that Daisuke has. If that's the case, then maybe they aren't ours after all, but rather for the new Chosen."

"Ch-chosen?" Miyako squeaked. Sora nodded and stood, reaching out to take Miyako's hand and uncurl her fingers from around her red digivice.

"The Digital World has chosen you, just like it chose us," she said, giving Miyako's hand a reassuring squeeze. Iori straightened slightly.

"We might as well try, Miyako," he said solemnly. "We came all this way, after all." Miyako glanced to Iori and then back to Sora before nodding. She and Iori stepped forwards – Miyako to the crest of Love and Iori to the crest of Knowledge – and they looked at each other from the corner of their eyes and took a deep, shuddering breath before reaching towards the eggs.

Light as a feather they came away from their platforms with such ease that Miyako almost threw hers clean over her shoulder. The pair looked at each other, bewildered, and their eyes moved to the eggs for the briefest moment before the temple was filled with a blinding light.

Sora span away, pressing her face into her blazer and clenching her eyes shut against the glare. After a moment the light dimmed and Sora peeked out from behind her arms to see that the light had formed two pillars – one red and one purple – with a silhouette slowly forming in the center. After a moment, one sprouted wings and feathers, while the other curled up in to a tight ball, wrapping its tail around itself. The light dimmed, and the silhouettes became digimon who perched neatly on the platforms, shaking and stretching.

The bird looked up first, setting its sharp eyes on Miyako. Its talons were yellow with gleaming white claws, and its body was covered in thick maroon feathers with small black plumes on its elbows and large black feathers at the tips of its wings, almost like fingers. Its head was covered in fine cream feathers, with a red mark under each blue eye and three more marks in the centre of its brow, partially obscured by the black leather belt that encircled its head and secured a single yellow-tipped feather.

"Ah, it feels so good to be able to stretch my wings," the bird said, his voice rich and his tone formal as he ruffled his feathers and shook his head. Gracefully he hopped down from the plinth and ducked in to a low bow before Miyako. "Greetings! My name is Hawkmon, and I've been waiting to make your acquaintance!" He straightened and puffed out his feathery chest, which caused Miyako to stumble back a little.

"Are you… talking?" she breathed. "Are you talking to me?!" Hawkmon sniffed a little and studied Miyako closely.

"Of course. Whom else would I be speaking to?" he asked. Miyako didn't seem to have an answer to that.

Meanwhile, the other digimon had landed in front of Iori. Covered in segmented gold plate, the creature's scaly skin beneath was a vibrant yellow, with stark silver claws that clacked against the temple floor as it stepped closer to Iori. Three scaly tufts emerged from either side of the armour on the digimon's head, which was decorated with a red diamond, two red stripes on either side, and trimmed in white.

"Howdy!" he greeted in a strong, heavy drawl. "The name's Armadimon. I was having quite a nice nap until you woke me up. Think my shell's still sleeping..." He glanced back over his shoulder and wobbled his shell from side to side with a frown. Iori stared wide-eyed at Armadimon for a moment before seeming to remember his manners and offering a formal, polite introduction. Sora almost chuckled as the little boy snapped to attention and dropped in to a stiff bow. Miyako meanwhile had taken Hawkmon's black feather-fingers and was stretching his wing to examine him further.

A sudden thud made Sora jump, and she span around to face the entrance to the temple. A hulking digimon stood silhouetted by the sunlight – a menacing figure with two large tusks sprouting from his head. It was almost as broad as the temple's entrance with great big arms and fists, one of which seemed to be holding a long, spiked club. Taichi was the first to react, jumping to the front of the group and spreading his arms wide, and moments later Biyomon and Tentomon stood at his side. Sora placed herself behind Taichi's shoulder, not too sure how much good she'd really be able to do, but having Koushiro fall in beside her made her feel a little more confident. To the rear, Miyako wailed again as Hawkmon and Armadimon took their places before their respective partners.

The lumbering figure drew closer, each step knocking years of dust from the ceiling. Sora saw Taichi retrieve his digivice from his pocket and grip it tightly at his side. Sora did the same, clutching the little device so hard she thought it might break. The creature was only paces away now, and the closer he drew the more he blocked the bright sunlight. Slowly his features faded in to view – sharp spikes on his green shoulders, a jaw fixed wide open in a silent roar with rows of shining teeth, red linen wrapped around a leg and a forearm with navy cuffs opposing, and a mane of wild, silver hair that tumbled down the digimon's back. As the light splashed across his deep furrowed brow and glinted off the silver tusks, Sora straightened with relief as Ogremon came to a halt before them, his brow furrowed.

"Hey, don't I know you?"