A/N: Wheet, I'm on a roll. Which is a good thing, considering the prompt! I'm afraid you'll have to wait for Kouichi's entrance to be explained – it's actually not all in the prequel either. And I haven't written Lopmon in ages. I'm going to have fun with him.

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Wish Journeys 1.1
Three Brothers

Chapter 2/Kouichi

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'There's a new Chosen,' Kouichi's rabbit companion said.

He was a cute rabbit. Something that seemed to fit better as a girl's stuffed animal than as a young mage's companion. But he was good company. Understanding, comforting and informative. He'd talked about so many things with his furry little friend that he'd forgotten most of what he'd said.

But now there was little left of the past to talk about. So they turned to the present.

Maybe, if the young mage looked back to the past, he'd realise how like oil it was, slipping away when he tried to grasp at it.

But he didn't try to grasp at it.

So he didn't realise.

'New Chosen?' he asked. 'Already?'

'He must have followed you through the gate.' The rabbit scratched beneath his ear. 'He's a warrior. But pretty low-ranked. He must've almost failed.'

'I see.'

That meant there was nothing to worry about.

'Then we may as well let him have his wish.'

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His staff had one glistening sphere. And his company had one chocolate coloured rabbit. All in all, he'd made good progress.

Everything had been strange initially. But barely a night had passed and it was already like he'd been here for an age, like this. A Chosen: a young mage seeking five spheres to unlock the door to the Tower of Destiny and the passage to the Goddess. Sometimes, he forgot the specifics – but Lopmon would remind him then. He never forgot his wish though. He didn't know why it was this empty, painful, echo in his heart. He didn't know why his lips would form those words.

But they would and he hadn't yet forgotten. And it didn't seem unusual that he remembered that and forgot everything else. Because Lopmon was there to give gentle nudges in the right direction.

And Lopmon was there to teach him about magic, so that staff he carried became something more than a carrying vessel for the spheres.

And Lopmon was there to tell him about this world so he wouldn't be lost.

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'Where do I start looking for these jewels?' he wondered aloud.

He'd found one, but it was like his feet had been guided there. On the mountain: biting cold and covered in snow. Where he'd met Lopmon. Where he'd found the sphere: glowing green.

It was as big as his fist when he'd first grasped it, but it had shrunk when it's touched it with his staff until it fit neatly in to one of the holes.

But all of that was like something had been telling him where to go.

'Try a guiding spell,' Lopmon suggested. 'You should be able to do that.' Lopmon went on to explain and Kouichi followed the instructions. It was easy to follow instructions. And it was like he'd done it before.

It pointed him towards the west.

'And now we teleport.' Lopmon jumped up and Kouichi let him adjust himself on his shoulder. Maybe it was an unfair advantage compared to the other Chosen, but it was nice not having to walk aimlessly. And faster too. And safer. 'You know, there are lots of scary creatures down there. Hungry dogs and things.' He shivered.

'We'll stay in the air.' Kouichi decided.

Another perk of being a mage.

'Then you'll need to start from the air,' Lopmon reminded.

Kouichi closed his eyes and drew steps in the air. They formed, shimmering and barely visible. He walked up them, his cloak trailing behind him as he went until there was only white beneath them: white snow from the mountaintop.

And then he focused to the edge of the horizon he could barely see, and popped out of existence.

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It took them several guiding spells and teleports before they came to the place of the second sphere. Lopmon was more excited than Kouichi was, but to the both of them, that was a normal thing. And it didn't occur to Kouichi at all to question why he was so comfortable around this chocolate coloured rabbit. He just was, and it had been so long since he'd felt like that that he simply soaked it all up. Like a sponge.

'It's in a heater.' That was more concerning. Heaters were hot, especially after the snow-covered mountain they'd been on just hours before. That sort of sudden change in climate would get him sick soon.

He tapped his stick, trying to recall the circle. Somehow he'd protected himself from the cold. He could protect them from the heat now too.

Lopmon hopped off his shoulder and looked at him. He remembered, then drew the circle around them. It was in the air, so it would follow them. Keep them from coming down with a fever, or a cold.

Lopmon smiled. It was a cute smile with his bunny face and bunny lips and bunny ears.

Kouichi smiled as well.

'That's better,' Lopmon said in relish. 'Come on, let's go.'

He trotted off with his tiny legs, and Kouichi followed.

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Kouichi bumped into someone.

That was mostly his fault, since he hadn't been watching where he was going. But it was partially the fault of the person he'd bumped in to, because the black cloak should have made him quite easy to spot against a silver background.

It was a boy around his height – and probably age too. Brown haired and brown eyed and tanned skin. And he had a sword.

'You must be the new Chosen,' Lopmon from somewhere near his feet commented.

The boy rubbed his brow with a gloved hand. Funnily enough, those gloves were brown as well. 'I guess,' he said. 'That's what the guy in the cloak called me.' He stared more properly, then added: 'Uhh…the other guy in the cloak, I mean. I mean that…' He shook his head.

'The one who tests the Chosen,' Lopmon mused, and then Kouichi understood.

'I'm Takuya,' the boy added. 'I'm looking for one of those sphere thingies. You know where I can find one?'

Kouichi couldn't help but let a laughing smile slip on to his face. 'We're looking for one too,' he said.

'Oh.' Takuya looked back, then forth. His hands were nowhere near his sword. 'I'm sorry, but I –'

'What's your wish?' Kouichi interrupted.

Takuya's head snapped back. 'My brother's in a coma because I didn't protect him,' he said. His face was splashed with pain and guilt. 'I'm going to fix that – and this time I'm going to protect him.'

Kouichi nodded slowly, then drew a circle in the air. The same one he'd drawn outside.

Takuya blinked as the sweat that coated him disappeared.

'Whoever finds it first,' Kouichi explained. He offered a hand.

Takuya shook on it, and they went their separate ways.

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'Why bother?' Lopmon asked.

That was rare. It was usually Kouichi who was confused and Lopmon who had the answers.

'He wants to protect his brother.' Kouichi shrugged. 'And his hand was nowhere near his sword so he didn't plan to fight us for the sphere. It didn't cost us anything.'

'True,' Lopmon mused. 'But you're too soft, you know. You would let a hungry Trimon gobble you up because otherwise it'd crack his three heads open on a Cliffside.'

'I would not,' Kouichi retorted, before blinked. 'And what in the world is a Trimon?'

'In the digital world.' Lopmon laughed. 'And Trimon is a very hungry dragon with three heads that –' He paused, then squinted. 'Bigger than that though.'

Kouichi squinted. What he saw was more a dog with three heads than a dragon.

'Fly?' Lopmon clung to his pants leg.

Kouichi hurriedly drew steps in the air and ran up them. 'It can't follow us, right?'

They ducked as a green light shot over their heads.

'No.' Lopmon had squeezed his eyes shut. 'But it can fire at long distances.'

They ducked under another blast.

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The green blasts weakened the foundations of the kettle-shaped structure they were in. Kouichi was starting to feel the strain of using so much magic, but he didn't want to strike to kill. They were the ones who'd invaded after all. And they'd come to steal something to boot.

It wasn't until they heard a mix of yells, growls, and clumsy strikes – telltale signs that the dog had found another target.

Kouichi paused, then teleported.

'Hey!' Lopmon cried, before steadying himself as they popped up right behind the dog. 'A little warning next time.'

They jumped over the green blast aimed for them.

Takuya scrambled away, swordless. Kouichi's eyes flickered between him and the dog –

And he could have groaned in frustration, because the sphere they were looking for was right next to the other's sword.

But if he teleported over and grabbed it, then the other would pay the price.