A.N.: At last, an update! I'm so sorry for how long this has taken. This summer holiday has turned out to be a ridiculous mess of stuff going on, coupled with my getting super distracted by other stories and my NaNo planning. I never thought I would be so glad for term to start again, but there we are. Only one more week to go!

This has also turned out to be a slightly shorter chapter than I'd planned. I've ended up cutting it off sooner than I had originally intended, so some of it has been pushed to the next chapter instead. I did that mainly because the point where it ends makes a really natural break, much as I had wanted to write a longer chapter to make up for my absence/sidetracking to write Metanoia. Still. Here we are, and I do at least have a little more time today in which to start the next chapter. Let me know what you think!

Sunday, 6:00pm

It was another one of those moments where the only sound was the faint clack of fingers on keyboards. Miyako and Ken were apparently making much faster progress with the addition of Ken's laptop - something about being able to see the information clearly. And at least Tentomon had gotten over his panic at someone else using Koushiro's pride and joy. The requests for the pair of them to "be careful" were only coming every ten minutes or so now.

Jou sighed. He'd always thought that the worst part of being one of the Chosen Children was the bit where they inevitably ended up running or fighting for their lives. On occasion they'd even had to do both together - moments which held a special place in his heart as among the worst in his life. This time, though, it was different. There was something about waiting with no idea of what was happening to the others, and no way of knowing how and when they would be able to return, which managed to make the experience rank right up there with being chased by hostile digimon.

"Here." He looked up to see Mimi holding out a bowl of food. "Mrs Yagami is still in Hikari's room crying, so Daisuke and I decided we ought to make everyone something to eat," she said.

Blinking, he accepted the proffered bowl. Now that he thought about it, the last time he'd eaten had been that morning. "I must have zoned out," he said. "I didn't even realise you were in the kitchen. Thanks."

She shrugged. "Oh, it wasn't a bother. I promised Iori's mother that I'd make sure he had dinner, and it was silly to make food for him and not everyone else. And then Daisuke offered to help because he's been over here a few times and knows where things in the kitchen are, and it turns out he's a pretty good cook. You'd never guess, would you?"

Jou nodded, letting Mimi's words wash over him. If he were honest with himself, he wasn't really listening. Still, it was nice to hear her talking so calmly, as though there weren't a major crisis unfolding around them which would almost certainly impact the both of them that night. Apparently some things never changed. Mimi had always been better than him at finding something to distract herself from worrying obsessively.

He ate mechanically. The noodles might have been nice, or they might have been bland; he was too preoccupied with the aforementioned worrying about everything to really taste anything at all.

Time passed. Each minute of inaction seemed to stretch out and double its length. Each sound was amplified. The clatter of dishes being washed in the kitchen. The clack of fingers on keyboards and the murmur of Ken and Miyako's discussion of their progress. The hum of Tentomon's wings as he took to the air now and then just to make sure that Koushiro's laptop was safe.

At last, Iori cleared his throat. "I should get home. My mother didn't want me to stay out too late when there's school tomorrow."

Jou looked up to see the apology on the younger boy's face.

"Hey, it's okay Iori," he said. The least he could do was try to offer some comfort. "It makes no sense for you to stay here and make your mother worry. You've got your D-Terminal, so we can keep you up to date with everything. Did you want someone to walk you back?"

Iori looked around the room. Ken and Miyako hadn't even seemed to notice their conversation, and Mimi and Daisuke were still finishing up the dishes. He frowned, and shook his head.

"It's okay Jou. I can walk back by myself. You need to be here in case Sora calls, remember?"

Jou looked at the clock on the wall, which showed the time to be half six. In a few hours it would be a full day since Yamato had disappeared. If he were being honest with himself, he knew that they'd passed the window in which he could be expected to return without assistance already. Still. There was no reason to let his fears show. He had a duty to the others to keep up the pretence of normality, which meant forcing a smile to his face, cheerfully escorting Iori to the door, and waving him off as though this would all blow over.

The door closed behind him with a click, and he groaned. Mimi leant out of the kitchen area and looked at him curiously.

"What's wrong, Jou?" she asked.

"I just thought of something," he replied, putting his head in his hands. "Iori went home because he has school in the morning. How long do we have before Koushiro's parents call and ask to know where he is? I mean, at least if anyone else's parents call we can make an excuse. But Koushiro isn't even here. And so far as anyone's parents know, he and Miyako have been here since yesterday. We're going to start getting phone calls wanting them to go home ready for the morning. And for that matter, what are we going to do? Tomorrow's Monday."

Mimi shrugged. "Well, I told my parents I was staying at Sora's tonight, and heading to school from there in the morning. I brought my uniform with me. Can't you call the college and tell them something's come up?"

Jou stared at her.

"I'm studying to be a doctor, Mimi. I can't skip school just like that!"

Uh-oh. From the look which appeared on Mimi's face, he'd said the wrong thing.

"Well! Jou, honestly I am disappointed in you. This is important. Our friends are missing or trapped in another world and they need our help, and I for one plan to do everything I can to rescue them if I do in fact end up there tonight. I can't believe you're being so heartless as to think a few lectures are more important-"

"That's not what I'm saying!" Jou snapped, loudly enough that everyone turned to look at him. He faltered slightly as he realised the scene he'd created. "I…all I meant was- the college isn't going to buy an excuse like that so easily. Of course I care about helping the others! I mean, if Taichi's message an hour or so ago was right and Koushiro's injured too, I'm needed right here. But this isn't something we can count on ending in a day or two. We're no closer now than we were yesterday to knowing what's going on, and telling parents we're visiting each other or schools that we have family emergencies are excuses which won't last very long - especially since so many of us are affected and we're all close friends. We need to think up something more convincing than vague explanations, and we need to do it fast because we don't know how much longer we have left until we're trapped there too!"

Silence fell in the wake of his rather frantic outburst. Everyone was staring at him as he stood there regaining his breath.

"Well, Jou, I'm impressed," said Gomamon, sounding as cheerful as ever. "You lasted much longer this time before getting into a panic. You're really growing up!"

Mimi turned to stare at the digimon, who were all clustered on the sofa, peering over the back of it at them. She put a hand to her mouth and briefly stifled a giggle, before giving up and laughing, while everyone turned turned to stare at her in disbelief.

"I'm sorry," she said after a minute or so when she'd managed to calm down. "But really, Gomamon's right. You're still exactly the same as you were all those years ago Jou. It's just like old times. And we always managed to work everything out then, so there's really no reason to suppose things will be different now, is there? We got separated before, but we always found each other again."

Jou sagged. He wished he shared Mimi's optimism, he really did. But Mimi hadn't been the one to console Takeru; to patch up the burns and, later, the other assorted injuries he'd received. She hadn't been there to hear the terror in Yamato's voice as he had reappeared, believing his brother to have been crushed beneath a falling building. Try as he might, Jou simply couldn't push the fear and concern from his mind.

Sunday, 7:00pm

Takeru was glad his head had stopped aching so much. He'd carried Patamon for a while, as had Taichi, but his own head was the little digimon's preferred resting place, and, truth be told, it was reassuring to have the weight there. He'd long since gotten used to being a perch, anyway. Despite the lingering tenderness, he felt much better with his partner sat up there while they walked along.

The going was slow. There wasn't much of a path through the woods, and they were hampered by the fact that half their group were injured and weary. Takeru ached all over, especially in his back, and several of the burns on his arms nagged at him. He was sure the blisters had ruptured, but none of them were keen on the thought of undoing the layers of bandages Jou had wrapped his arms in order to find out.

Koushiro lagged behind the rest of the group. He had somewhat reluctantly allowed Taichi to place his injured arm in the sling before they set out into the woods, and there was no denying that he found the going harder than the others. Takeru could understand that. They both had similar injuries, but Koushiro didn't spend his time playing sports. He was probably the least athletic of all the Chosen Children - even Jou managed to exercise more, although that was usually down to the general air of bad luck which surrounded him, and tended to leave him running full pelt to make it to lectures or exams on time.

Koushiro was never late. Koushiro pretty much never ran anywhere, that Takeru knew of. So really, when Taichi looked back from his position at the front of their party to see what the hold-up was again, it was something of a surprise that Koushiro didn't bear the brunt of another verbal lashing. Takeru could see that Taichi was irritated. His body radiated tension and the knuckles of his clenched fists were white. But instead of yelling - which he absolutely would have if it had been, say, Yamato - he just sighed.

Takeru sighed as well, as he thought of his brother. In so many ways this trek through the woods reminded him of their time in the Digital world. And of course, every time that thought appeared in his head, the associated flood of memories just brought him back to the fact that Yamato was missing. It wasn't even like last time, where he'd come back, fought with Taichi, and then announced he was off again. He was just… gone. All they had to go on was his last message to Koushiro, in which he'd mentioned hiding from someone or something. And now, here they were, lost in unfamiliar woods, and all Takeru could think of was that Yamato should be there, just like Jou, Mimi, Sora and Hikari should too.

He was lost in another wave of nostalgia when Taichi's D-Terminal beeped. It was only when the older boy swore that he really became aware of what was going on. They had halted in the woods while Taichi grabbed the Terminal from his pocket. Koushiro stood leaning against a tree, breathing heavily. Tailmon and Agumon watched Taichi closely.

"It's for you, Koushiro," Taichi said, nodding at the confused expression he got in response. "Miyako says your parents want to know where you are."

Koushiro deflated. There wasn't really any other word for it. He sagged against the tree, turning his head so he faced away from them. Takeru could just make out the movement as he closed his eyes.

"I… I suppose we have to tell them the truth," he said at last, his voice leaden. "Or something like it. If I tell them it's Digital world stuff, they won't understand why I can't get back or give them a message directly."

Taichi walked over and rested a hand on his shoulder. "We'll get Mimi to call them, okay? She can do cheerful. And we'll leave out the bit about the roof for now."

Koushiro looked up, and smiled weakly. "Thanks," he said. "I should have thought of this sooner really. I suppose I was delaying the inevitable in the hope that somehow it would be unnecessary."

From his position to one side of the group, Takeru watched with a mixture of emotions. On the one hand, he couldn't help but be slightly irritated by the delay. Hikari and Yamato needed them. And really, what was so different about Koushiro's parents being informed than his own? They weren't the ones in danger, after all, so why was it something to make a fuss over? On the other hand, Taichi was more worried about Hikari than even Tailmon, and yet he considered it important enough to take the time to reassure Koushiro. To make sure that his parents wouldn't find out that their son was injured. Nor did Agumon - or even Tailmon for that matter - seem surprised by this, which meant it was a real enough issue that they were aware of it too.

Once again, Takeru was reminded of just how poorly he really knew some of his friends. He remained quiet while Taichi and Koushiro decided what to put in the message they sent to Miyako, turning his attention to the woods around them instead.

Patamon stirred on his head. Takeru winced a little as his partner's claws poked through the hat and into his scalp.

"Something's out there," Patamon whispered. "I saw it."

He froze. The others were too far away to call over - if he raised his voice, whatever it was would know it had been seen. Which, if it was peaceful, wouldn't be a problem. They hadn't seen anything peaceful in this world so far though. He took a step backwards, wincing as his foot scrunched dead leaves underfoot. In the gloom ahead of him, something moved. It was hard to tell what it was, exactly, as its colouring matched the undergrowth almost perfectly. On his head, Patamon tensed, claws tightening their grip on his hat.

The bushes rustled. It was ridiculous, really, to be wishing for even more light in this over-saturated world, but for some reason he was finding it difficult to pin down where the creature was. He'd heard it. He'd even seen the blur of movement. But now that it was still, somehow it had vanished again, right in front of his eyes. Close enough that, if he looked away, there was a reasonable chance of it rushing him. The others were still talking - they didn't appear to have noticed anything wrong. What should he do?

Patamon answered the question for him when the undergrowth before them moved once more. As it lurched towards them, his partner took to the air, blasting the creature with three consecutive Air Shots. It was bowled over by the force of them, and slammed into a tree. Before Takeru could make out what it was, something else moved, rushing in from the left to seize the creature and make off with it.

"What the hell was that?" Taichi exclaimed. He and the others had raced over the moment Patamon started attacking.

"I don't know," Takeru replied. "For some reason it was like my eyes couldn't focus on it. It was just this blur."

"Well, whatever it was, it got away. So we'd better be on our guard in case it comes back," Koushiro said. He sighed. "I wish Tentomon was here."

"If wishes were fishes, I'd be in heaven," Tailmon said, folding her arms. "We should keep moving."

The atmosphere took a turn to the serious after their encounter. They had been aware that there was danger in this world beforehand, but it was different now that they'd actually had to fend off a mysterious something. The pace slowed, as Taichi refused to walk on ahead and leave Koushiro trailing behind. Spreading themselves out like that would make them easier targets.

Tailmon and Agumon walked either side of them, and Patamon kept watch from atop Takeru's hat. Now and then he would take to the air, and try to see where they were among the trees. The mountains remained stubbornly far off to what morning had revealed to be the east.

They had been walking for perhaps another twenty or thirty minutes when Tailmon raised a paw, her ears twitching. At the same time, Patamon stiffened, his claws tightening their grip on Takeru's hat once more.

"What is it?" Taichi whispered, looking at the trees surrounding them.

Tailmon ignored him, continuing to stare at a point somewhere out in the trees. Almost unconsciously, they all gathered closer together, letting Agumon stand on the far side of Taichi, even as Koushiro moved behind Tailmon. Patamon leapt from Takeru's hat and landed in front of him as he faced the direction they'd come from, completing the triangle. Takeru could only hope his partner felt rested enough from his ride, and the healthy meal he'd eaten before they started walking.

Patamon's wing-ears twitched a half second before the arrow landed in the dirt, not six inches away from his body. Takeru let out a gasp of shock, and lurched forwards to grab his partner.

"Don't move!" cried a voice from somewhere in the woods. "We have you surrounded."

Taichi swore. Takeru, frozen in the act of reaching out for Patamon, could only hear Tailmon's hiss of frustration, and the low growl from Agumon. He looked past his partner at the arrow embedded in the dirt. An arrow? Who the hell used arrows?