Sitting in a tree house, two littles girls talked and giggled with each other as they shifted around a pile of Digimon cards. One of them would pick up a card and then promptly toss it down, spreading the pile out by scattering more cards. After a moment, the blonde girl locked her eyes onto a certain card and grabbed it. There was a smile on her face as she looked up, her green eyes sparkling. She held the Digimon card up for her friend to see. On it was an illustration of a small, bat-like creature with a devilish smirk. The brunette across from her looked at it. Examining the card in front of her, she blinked and tilted her head to the side, causing her hair to spill over her shoulders and partially obscure her face.

The blonde grinned, flipping her own hair out of the way. "DemiDevimon. My favorite card," she announced.

"You like a little demon bat?"

She puffed her cheeks out as they turned red. "W-well...let's see what you like then, Mikami!"

Mikami turned the card over and held it out. The illustration was of a child-like imp wearing a red scarf and a pair of matching gloves. The imp had a yellow smiley face on its stomach. It was grinning mischievously. "Impmon."

It seemed like Angela had nothing to say, only for her to burst out laughing. She fell backwards and wrapped her arms around her stomach. Trying to contain herself, she tapped her feet against the floor. Mikami, crestfallen, slouched as she pouted and stared at her friend with saddened blue eyes. When the offending girl looked up at Mikami, her laughter died down. With an apologetic look, she sat up and rubbed her cheek.

"Okay, sorry. It's really not as bad as DemiDevimon."

Mikami blinked and then locked her eyes onto her friend. "Really, Angela?"

Angela nodded, giving the younger girl a thumbs-up. "Yep, really. DemiDevimon is basically a demon bat. An imp isn't that bad." She paused to tap her chin. "Why don't you keep that card? It'll be my gift to you."

Eyes widening, Mikami clutched the card to her chest and beamed at her friend. "Thanks!"

The dull crackle of the fire was the first thing she heard as she was pulled from the dream. Still drowsy, Mikami had to blink several times before she could keep her eyes open. Eventually she sat up and rubbed her head with a displeased huff. That had been the first time she had dreamt about her former best friend since their falling-out. They had been close when they were children, bonding over their love of Digimon. It was after the "incident" had occurred that they grew apart. At some point, Mikami had come to the decision that Digimon was too childish for her. After a harsh argument with the older girl, they went their separate ways.

She realized how ironic it was that she thought herself too mature for Digimon. Who would have thought that she would end up in the Digital World, partnered with the Digimon that was once her favorite? She had dreamed of meeting real Digimon when she was younger and now, quite a few years later, she got her chance. Nothing was the same, though. She and Angela had wanted to go together, but of course the other girl was gone and out of her life.

With a soft sigh, she slid one leg under her to push herself up to her feet. As she stretched she yawned, which made her eyes water at the edges. Annoyed, she rubbed them away and stumbled over to the lake. She was careful as she sat down, tossed her shoes to the side, and stuck her feet into the chilly lake as she leaned back. The icy feeling on her skin helped to distract her from the dream. A comforting silence followed, so she closed her eyes and relish the slight breeze.

"Mind if I join ya?"

Surprised, she quickly turned to her left. Impmon stood there, rubbing the back of his head while glancing away. After a moment of thought, Mikami nodded and patted the ground. He sat down beside her, staring up at the starlight sky. She closed her eyes again to enjoy the night.

"So, why are ya up?" Impmon asked. He kept his voice lowered to avoid waking the still sleeping human.

"Weird dream," she answered. It wasn't the complete truth, but she wasn't lying either. "Just wanted to clear my head before I tried to go back to sleep."

"Ah." Shifting, Impmon tugged at his scarf. "Anyway, who are those friends of yers?"

"Well, one's a smartass named Tadashi," she began, chuckling as she opened her eyes. "He thinks he knows everything there is to know."

Impmon frowned at her, annoyed by the description alone. "Sounds really annoyin'."

Mikami couldn't help but laugh at his observation and nodded in agreement. "Trust me, he is. Constantly correcting people and acting like he's better than everyone. But his sister Shizuka is there to put him in line. It's best not to piss her off; she's so strong that it's pretty scary."

"I can imagine," he grumbled.

"Then there's Judai. He's pretty lazy. If he's not playing video games, he's off napping somewhere. Yoko is…well, she's pretty happy-go-lucky and friendly. To be honest, she's the nicest one of us."

Impmon smirked. "Ya sound like an odd bunch."

She lightly smacked him on the back of his head. His irritation at the action made her laugh. He slapped her hand in retaliation, only for her to smack him again. Sighing in defeat, he slumped over.

"Judging from what you guys told me about your friends, you are too," Mikami said.

"I'm the weirdest one. I'm the only Virus Digimon out of the six of us."

She glanced at him and then looked at the lake. "How'd you meet them anyways? Seems strange now that I think about it."

A faraway look appeared in his eyes as he stared up at the moon, his arms folded.

"Before I met them I was a loner. Didn't really like to have company, if ya know what I mean. So I travelled around on my own. One day some big jerk started chasing me around everywhere. I'd shake him for a bit, but he'd show up again pretty quickly. He managed to back me into a corner. Asshole was too strong for me to beat no matter how much I tried."

"Why was he after you?"

Impmon shrugged. "Beats me. All he said was that he was followin' orders. He was about to get his way when Renamon and Dorumon showed up. That's when I first met those two. They distracted the big guy long enough for Leomon to show up and take out the trash. Then they started spouting off about being one of the 'chosen'." He snorted. "See, I told 'em I wasn't gonna go with them. I wasn't about to be some goody-two-shoes runnin' off to save the world. 'Course, they didn't like that. Said it was my duty to help and all that junk. When I tried to run off, Renamon knocked me out cold."

Mikami let out a bark of laughter before covering her mouth. She looked over to their makeshift campsite to make sure that Daiki was still asleep. A loud snore confirmed that he was. Annoyed, Impmon glared at her as she turned back to him.

"Ya mind?"

"Sorry," she said, still grinning.

With a huff he continued. "They took me to the cabin they were hidin' out in. That's where I met Salamon, Biyomon, and Gabumon. Turns out I was the last one they needed to find."

"How'd they find you and the others?"

"Some weird little device that Leomon had," Impmon said, using his hands to show the size. "He's never told us how he got it and never lets us mess with it. Heck, I'm not even sure how it works or how it knew we were the ones. It just did."

Mikami pursed her lips. "That's weird. I guess I can understand him being protective of it though."

"Uh-huh. So, me and Renamon didn't get along at first. We butted heads all the time. The others weren't so bad. A little too friendly for my tastes. Not like there was much I could do considerin' I had been kidnapped. Salamon was the one that started warmin' me up to everyone with those eyes of hers. Way too good at makin' me feel guilty. Leomon sayin' that he'd help me get stronger helped too."

"It took puppy dog eyes and training to convince you to help? Sheesh."

The fact that she was teasing him made him scowl. "Yeah, well, what made ya agree to all this so quick?"

"Why wouldn't I? Obviously the Digimon here need help. It's the right thing to do." With a smirk, she poked him in the arm. "Not to mention fame and recognition."

"Shaddup!" He hissed, smacking her hand away. "Yer an ass."

"I could've told you that," she replied with a chuckle. "You and Renamon are pretty close now, huh?"

"Yeah…"

"What, no explanation?"

He stood and turned his nose up at her. "I'm goin' back to sleep."

She watched as he stalked off before pulling her feet out of the water. "Guess I better do the same."

~0~

From where she sat at the mouth of the cave, Yoko could watch the blue moon disappearing behind the tops of the trees. A couple of feet away was Leomon, who was resting against the cave wall with his arms folded over his chest. He had been awake for most of the night by the time Yoko woke up, so she had offered to take over watch for the night. Though it took a few good minutes of arguing between the two, she had gotten him to agree with her. It had mostly been due to the point she made about how being tired wouldn't do him any good if he needed to protect them.

She had glanced at him to make sure he was still asleep when she noticed Salamon trotting towards her. The small pup climbed into Yoko's lap. With a smile and a yawn, the tired Digimon curled into a ball and snuggled up to Yoko. Yoko smiled while rubbing her new friend's head. Salamon briefly opened a single eye to look up at her partner, then shut it again once she decided it was okay for her to sleep.

Yoko wished that Mikami and Daiki were there with them. Shizuka was strong, but without their leader, things just weren't the same. Mikami had always been the glue that kept them together. Just like how they had helped her to recover from her past, she leant them a shoulder to lean on when they needed it. There had been many times where each of them had needed to confide in her. After sticking together for so long, being separated the way they were felt like their group had been torn apart. They had been friends for quite a few years now—not counting Judai, who had joined them only about two years ago—so they were used to being together.

"Do not worry yourself."

Startled, Yoko whipped her head to the side to look at Leomon. He gave her a gentle smile as he moved to sit closer to her.

"I do apologize for startling you. Thank you for convincing me to rest." The weight of his paw on her shoulder nearly made her jump. "Your friends are fine, I assure you. They are with Impmon and Renamon. That much I am certain of."

"How can you be so sure?" Yoko asked.

"You landed near us," Salamon said, head still resting on Yoko's thigh. "They more than likely landed near Impmon and Renamon."

"Salamon is correct. They will be fine," Leomon repeated. He lightly patted her shoulder.

"A-alright," Yoko mumbled, looking down at Salamon. "I believe you. I'm just worried. Mikami and Daiki have their own share of problems and…well, I'm always worrying about them."

"Renamon is sensible," Salamon reassured her as she raised her head. "She and Impmon will protect your friends."

Doing her best to smile, Yoko nodded. "I'm more worried about what Daiki will do to anyone who hurts Mikami."

Leomon chuckled softly, amused by her. She looked outside. The sun had just begun to rise, hiding the stars as the sky was turned orange. Leomon pushed himself to his feet and strode farther into the cave to wake the others. Yoko turned around to watched him. Judai, yawning, stood and stumbled over to her. Tadashi was unsteady as he walked over but managed to stay on his feet. Shizuka looked annoyed while she rubbed her eyes. The Digimon fared better, stretching out their muscles with a varying degree of alertness in their eyes. Yoko smiled at Shizuka was the older girl sat beside her with her arms and legs crossed. Tadashi and Judai had settled against the cave wall and were already starting to doze off again. Leomon stepped outside to ensure that no one else was around.

"So…who exactly are we supposed to be fighting?" Shizuka asked.

"Not much is known about the Digimon we are opposing," Leomon said. He paused to collect his thoughts. "The enemy forces refer to this Digimon as The Master. The Master has an extensive army, though most are Champion level. Very few have surpassed Champion to become Ultimate, and so far there appear to be no Mega level Digimon in the army. Most Mega Digimon were captured or reformatted some time ago. None served or now serve The Master, as far as I know."

"Good and bad news. Isn't that great," Shizuka grumbled. She pinched her nose. "We need to find our friends."

"Indeed," Tadashi mumbled while yawning. "We can only combat this threat as a whole team."

With a look of contemplation, Biyomon said, "Depending on where they are, they could either be heading for the Village of Beginnings or Root Village."

"With the direction they were heading, I would say Root Village," Salamon said. "But they know we're closer to the Village of Beginnings, so it's more likely they'll be heading this way. In any case, it's best if we head there instead of Root Village. It was our original destination, after all."

"I agree with Salamon," Leomon stated as he turned towards the group. "It is safer for us if we head northward to the Village of Beginnings. Though visitors are uncommon, rumor travels fast through the village. If anyone has seen the others, we will find out there."

"Shizuka?" Yoko whispered to the older girl.

Shizuka tapped her finger against her lips with a thoughtful expression, debating with herself about the conversation. After a few prolonged moments, she stood and put her hands on her hips.

"Let's go with what Leomon said. Village of Beginnings definitely sounds like our best option at this point." She paused to glare at the two boys. "If no one has objections."

Judai shrugged casually while Tadashi shook his head to avoid arguing with his sister.

"Okay. It's decided then. We're off to the Village of Beginnings!" She stopped and put a hand on her stomach as it rumbled. She smiled widely. "Food first though, 'kay?"

~0~

The sun was rising quickly when Mikami finally decided to sit up. As she watched, Daiki used a giant leaf to pour water over the smoldering remains of their campfire. A waft of steam drifted upwards and dispersed after only a few seconds. He glanced at her briefly and raised an eyebrow as he motioned for her to get up. She groaned and got to her feet, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Renamon and Impmon approached them. The frown on the fox's face was worrisome.

"We will need to leave quickly," Renamon stated. "It seems patrols have been through here. We are lucky they did not see the fire."

"Crap," Daiki muttered, massaging his temples. "Which direction did they go?"

"Northwest."

"We'll be goin' northeast anyways, so we don't need to worry too much," Impmon said. "We need to get to the Village of Beginnings. The others are probably gonna be headin' there."

"So we can find our friends there," Mikami muttered to herself. "Alright, but can we set out after some breakfast? I don't think leaving on an empty stomach is a good idea."

Daiki chuckled while Impmon smirked. It took a second for Renamon to nod in agreement.