He knew he should have been feeling scared. He'd fallen asleep, and gotten sucked back into the nightmare world, despite all his efforts. He was scarcely less tired than he had been at home, and his body was a jumble of connected aches and pain. The wind was already picking up. If things ran to form, he was in imminent danger of further injury, and he had this to look forward to every time he fell asleep.

But somehow, all he could feel was confusion. Why wasn't he in the water? Every other night, he'd woken up ankle deep in the sea – but this time he was stood in the same field he'd left. It didn't make any sense.

"Takeru?"

He whirled around on the spot, and saw Patamon looking up at him from the ground. His partner was looking around with eyes partly closed.

"You're here! Then you..."

"I made sure Daisuke and your mother didn't touch you," Patamon said, flapping his wings and hovering at eye height. "You went all dark and shadowy, Takeru. It was scary. But I promised I wouldn't let you come here alone again. So here I am!"

Takeru managed a smile. "I know I shouldn't be, but I'm glad you're here." His face fell. "But we have to find shelter, Patamon, and quickly. It'll start raining soon."

Patamon nodded. "The trees?" he asked. "It's better than being in the open." Without waiting for Takeru to reply, he flew over to the edge of the wood, and started peeking between the branches.

Takeru threw one last look around him. The wind was certainly picking up now, and darker clouds were washing over the sky. The green of the grass and the trees was so rich it almost hurt. Something was bothering him about it all. It hovered on the edge of his mind, tantalising him, but staying just out of reach. What was it? What was so wrong?

There wasn't time now to dwell on it. Those dark clouds looked just as ominous as they had the night before. Wincing at the aches in his legs, he started to run towards Patamon. He was calling him towards a gap in the bushes that marked the edge of the wood.

"Quick Takeru – it will be safer in here. These leaves look very thick!"

The gap wasn't big – Patamon could fit through it easily, but Takeru had to crouch down and push branches out of the way to fit through. Twigs poked him, and he tried not to think about the burns on his arms. Jou had re-dressed them, and then wrapped a layer of gauze bandage over the whole of each arm to shield the wounds from further damage. He looked ridiculous, but it was better than the alternative. Even with the bandages, each twig or stick which knocked into him sparked a renewed pain somewhere.

The wind was less inside the wood. Past the first few feet, the undergrowth died back – there was too little light filtering down from the canopy to allow much to grow underfoot. A litter of dead and dying leaves lay everywhere, with small, lurid wildflowers peeping up here and there. Over head, the trees groaned, their branches caught by the growing gale.

"I don't know how much shelter we'll have here," Takeru called over the noise. "We need to keep moving. Maybe there's a fallen tree somewhere, or something else that we can shelter under."

Patamon nodded. They trudged onwards, looking around them for shelter that seemed impossible to find – as the wind grew stronger and the borrowed light under the canopy began to dim. At any moment, Takeru expected to feel burning droplets, but none came. Why was it taking so long this time?

"There! Takeru, look!" Patamon darted off to the side. Against all the odds, there was something a little way ahead, nestled between the trees. As they drew closer, they realised it was an actual shelter – a crumbling brick structure, half covered in ivy. There was no door, and any glass or shutters had long since fallen out of the windows and been buried, but it had a sturdy enough roof. Rusty tracks ran nearby.

"Looks as though there was a railway here at one point," Takeru said. "Maybe this was some sort of signal box?"

It was lighter here. The trees were thinner, no doubt due to the train tracks which ran through the woods. The wind was stronger too, with fewer obstructions. Patamon tugged at Takeru's hand.

"Come on, we need to get inside. You said it would hurt you if you got wet in the rain, and it looks like it will start soon!"

Takeru nodded, and they ran for cover. Finally, from the canopy overhead came that sizzling sound from the previous night. They were just in time. Rain began to fall in earnest, turning the rich colours of the woodland floor black. Safe at last inside the shelter, Takeru began to realise what had been wrong all this time.

"That field was green," he said, turning to Patamon. "It doesn't make sense. There was this same burning rain yesterday, and there were black patches all over that field. But today, it was all back to normal. All green again. How is that possible?"

Patamon shrugged, settling down on a pile of broken boxes. "I don't know. Maybe you should ask Koushiro? Does your D-Terminal work?"

Takeru fumbled in his pocket. "Of course!" He pulled out the D-Terminal, and opened it, tapping out a message. "I really hope they get this," he said, and hit send.

Next, he pulled out his D3, and looked at the screen. If it was working – and if the others had been pulled back here as well – would it be able to lead him to them? The screen looked dead, which wasn't a particularly encouraging sign.

He sighed, letting his arm drop. "Well, it's not looking good so far, Patamon. MyD3 isn't picking up anything, at least. I don't know if that's because they're too far away, or if they simply don't work here."

"So what do we do now?"

They both looked out of the open doorway at the rain. Clouds of steam were rising where it struck the ground. Takeru walked over to the opening, and held his hand as close to the falling drops as he dared.

"It's hot," he said slowly. "Whatever it is, I think it burns the ground through heat, not acid or anything like that. I suppose that's a little encouraging. At least I don't have to worry about being poisoned by it."

"Please come away from there," Patamon said. "It might not be acid or poison, but it's still very dangerous you know."

Takeru sighed. "I wasn't going to venture out or anything. I was just curious. I wonder what else is in this place."

He ventured towards the side away from the door. The floor was littered with junk and leaf litter which had been blown in through the doorway. Old counters covered in dials and switches were set along one wall, with a couple of partly disintegrated stools sat in front of them. It all looked as though it had been abandoned for years. Decades, even. Towards the rear of the room was another doorway, leading into a much darker room. The faint light came from the gaps between a curtain of plant life which obstructed a window. He could just about make out what seemed to be a stairwell, leading underground, and a few other items of furniture, left in situ from whatever use they had once held. Nothing seemed to have disturbed the place. It was decidedly creepy.

There was nowhere to go. Nothing to do. Koushiro had not replied to his message, either. Bored, he and Patamon had gone over their shelter inch by inch. After the initial explorations it became clear that the building had been long forgotten by whoever had built it here – if anyone had. Certainly the digital world was full of inexplicable things which had apparently sprouted there of their own accord. Still, its ruinous state implied that there had been a time when it wasn't ruined. Things in the Digital world always appeared to be new. The abandoned house he had been in with Yamato also pointed towards people – whether human or otherwise – having been here at some point. Where had they gone?

"Takeru, look! The rain is stopping." Patamon hovered near the door. "The wind has stopped too. It's getting bright again!"

Takeru smiled ruefully. "Well, that's good, Patamon. But look at the ground. Can I really go out and walk on that? We can't both fly, you know."

Patamon stared at him. "I could carry you if I digivolved," he pointed out.

"But we don't know how long we'll be stuck here. Or where we'd be going. In all honesty, I don't know how we're going to get back at this point. Without that rain, there's nothing here at the moment that's scary enough to do the trick."

They stood or hovered in silence for a minute. Patamon eventually flew back to the stack he had claimed as a resting spot, and settled down.

"So what will we do, Takeru? We can't stay here forever. There's nothing to eat!"

"Well, maybe-" he was cut off by a beeping sound.

"Takeru, Takeru! It's your D-Terminal! It's a message! It works!"

He almost dropped it, so quick was he fumbling to get it out.

"I know that, Patamon," he said, unable to help himself laughing. "Now just let me see what it says."

:Daisuke tells me you are in other world. Please message to confirm if Terminals have reception:

The time-stamp on the message read a couple of minutes after midnight.

"That's odd," Takeru said. "This seems like it was sent right after we got here, but, surely we've been here a couple of hours by now. Why has it taken so long for the message to get through? Unless that storm interfered with the signal somehow?"

Patamon shrugged. "Does that mean he didn't get your message?"

"Well, if I got his, that should mean mine got through. Though probably it only just arrived." He frowned, checking the time on his terminal. "That means they've had no word from me for the last... three hours. And that I've been here far longer than I ever was before." He could feel a growing unease welling up inside him. What if that rainstorm had been his only ticket home?

The terminal beeped again.

:Takeru, just got your message. You sent that a while ago? There must be interference. Can you confirm what is happening?:

:Patamon and I found shelter. Both safe, but not sure how to get home. How are the others?:

He looked outside. The clouds appeared to be dispersing. He'd felt the heat coming off the raindrops. Surely it was only that which had caused the burning? There certainly didn't seem to be any puddles on the blackened ground.

"I think we should go look outside, Patamon. You're right. There's no point staying here." He walked over to the door, and gingerly put a foot down on the blackened ground, ready to haul it back if anything happened.

Nothing. He took another step, half closing his eyes as he stepped out into the glare of the woods. The ground felt warm, but not unpleasantly so. Curious, he crouched down and held out a hand, testing the heat. Patting the ground gingerly, he discovered that it was not uncomfortable to the touch.

"It's okay, Patamon. You can come out and land. It's safe."

His partner flew over, looking cross. "Takeru, what were you doing! I turn my back for just a minute and you start taking risks? You spend too much time with Daisuke!"

Takeru raised his eyebrows. "Patamon, unless you want us both to starve, or to be stuck here forever, we're going to have to take risks. And, this place can't be all bad. There has to be a reason we're here. A reason why it's the four of us."

Patamon sniffed, doing his best "pretending to be cross" face.

"Well, I still think we should be careful," he said.

Takeru's D-terminal beeped, cutting off his reply. He flipped it open. The message made his heart sink.

:Taichi made it back, but he was the only one. Hikari and Yamato messaged to say they are safe for now. Is your D3 working?:

Perhaps it was time to find out. He looked up again. Patamon's expression had changed to one of concern.

"It's bad news?"

Takeru half shrugged. "Depends how you look at it really. Taichi is the only one to make it back home so far. But Yamato and Hikari are safe. Oh, and Koushiro wants us to find out if you can digivolve. It seems we will be flying, after all."

Patamon nodded. "Maybe we'll be able to work out where we are from the air. Or if there are any people anywhere."

Takeru looked around at the blackened undergrowth. "Well, it certainly ought to beat just waiting here for more rain. We need to be careful though. It's no good you using up all your energy now, when we don't know how long we'll be here. I don't know how likely we are to find food anywhere nearby, either."

He unhooked his D3.

"Well, here goes nothing. I think we need Pegasusmon this time. No offence, but it's more comfortable that way."

Patamon nodded. "Besides, you're so big now that if I carry you as Angemon my arms start to ache. At least when I get bigger I go back to my normal size afterwards. Sometimes I wonder why you humans only grow one way. It would be a lot easier if you could get small again you know."

He couldn't help it – he laughed. Sure, he was trapped in an unknown world with no obvious way back, and no idea of where to go next. But he wasn't alone any more. It was a lot easier to be optimistic when he had his partner with him.

Light even brighter than the over-saturated sky filled the air as he held his D3 aloft. He was forced to look away; merely closing his eyes wasn't enough. It wasn't until he turned back and saw Pegasusmon standing before him that he realised he had been holding his breath. Exhaling, he flipped his D-Terminal open, and tapped out his message to Koushiro.

"Right then," he said, tucking it back into his pocket. Let's go take a better look at this place, shall we?"

A.N.: And so the plot thickens a little! I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to some more actiony sections. But for now: decisions, decisions. Should I carry straight on with Takeru's PoV, or take a little time out to see what the others are up to?

Or rather, if there is a demand to know what's going on elsewhere, then speak up now, or I shall continue with Takeru and make everyone wait to find out. *evil writer cackle*