Author's Note: Hello everyone! What do you think of it so far? It'd be great to have some feedback, thanks!

Episode 4 - Talyn

Talyn woke in a cold sweat. An icy breeze flowed through the crack in the window, which he quickly closed once his head stopped spinning. He sat up in bed, his room feeling much colder than it probably was due to the moisture on his body. It was still as dark as midnight; it couldn't have been close to the morning.
He rubbed his eyes and sighed gently.
The nightmares were worse now. Scenes depicting his darkest moments playing over and over every night whilst he slept; it was a rare occasion when he slept the night through.
His bare feet felt the cold, hard carpet of his room as he slid out of bed. His mind was reeling, the world was spinning ever so slightly; he needed to calm down.
He picked up his Digivice and held it to his chest, breathing slowly and without looking at the time, walked into the landing of his grandparent's bungalow. Every now and then he'd stay with them, mainly because they lived closer to the school; it was much more convenient, and cost less to transport him there.
He noticed a light on, coming from the living room, and walked his way to the source.
His grandfather sat watching the television; Talyn chose the sofa on the other side of the room.
"Can't sleep?" his grandfather asked.
"No," he replied, his throat dry, "What about you?"
"I barely sleep these days anyway, what's keeping you awake? Something on your mind?"
"It's… just this dream I keep having," Talyn replied.
"Dream? Or nightmare?"
"Nightmare."
"You know what usually helps me? Ranting to your grandmother," he gave a weary laugh.
"I'm not sure it's something I can talk about," Talyn mumbled.
His grandfather regarded him with his stern, penetrating eyes, "Not something you can talk about? Have you done something bad?"
"Not at all grandfather, let me put it this way: it's something only I am able to do, and other people either won't believe me, or they'll think I'm crazy," Talyn said.
Although he'd always been open with his family, the Digiworld was something he'd never told any of them about. His family knew when some secrets should just be left alone.
"Must be pretty special then," his grandfather huffed.
"Say I'm afraid that something, from an event in my past, may come back to… 'Bother' me again, what would you say to that?" Talyn asked.
His grandfather, Justin, sat quietly pondering this. Talyn harboured a very deep respect for his grandfather. The man was as strict as they came, but he always held some profound insight on life, and was one of the best people Talyn had ever met.
"What did you do to this something that may make it come back to get you?" he asked.
"I can't tell you that. I don't want you to worry, it's nothing really serious. It's a matter of perspective, from my point of view, doing what I did saved a lot of people a lot of trouble, this something was obviously evil," Talyn explained.
"So this is about revenge?" Justin asked.
"It's just a dream, but yes, I fear revenge may be the problem," Talyn said quietly.
"So what is it about this revenge you fear?"
Talyn thought for a moment, "I fear… I may not be able to stop it again. I may not be able to protect other people from it either."
Justin chuckled, "You're too young to be having fights like this. Look, son, I've taught you 'good always triumphs' haven't I? There's more to that lesson though, good does and will always triumph, but it may not do so obviously, or quickly. Some fights last seconds, others last decades. The only thing that matters is that if you know, without doubt or worry, that you are fighting for good, then you will always win. Other people may not agree with you, they may fight you and challenge you as well, but in time, they will see why you are right…. Considering the fact that you are right of course."
Talyn thought over this, "What if it's not a fight in the metaphorical way?"
"A physical fight? Well, I'd say you're an idiot for getting in one in the first place," Justin said.
Talyn laughed, he knew that was coming, "This is a fight I have to face."
"Fighting is a matter of choice, not destiny. If you want to know how to fight, ask your grandmother," Justin grumbled.
There was, and never would be, any sympathy from his grandfather, Talyn knew that too well. Behind the withered face and frail frame lay a mind that knew the distinction between good and evil like it was oil and water; he wasn't afraid to enforce it either, more than once had Talyn received a scolding.
The cool night air was creeping up on him, and though his mind was not at rest, he decided to return to his room.
Talyn had wished many times he could explain to his grandparents his trials and battles in the Digiworld, but they were too set on reality to see any truth in it. He retrieved his own notes he had created a long time ago, of the battles and squabbles he and Sofi had sorted and triumphed in the Digiworld. He looked over each event, carefully analysing both sides of every argument, making sure he'd made the right decision. Justice, in the real world at least, was corrupt. He'd seen it often on the news, and had been taught everything he knew about injustice from his grandfather; the old man would argue with his wife for hours on end when he believed justice hadn't been served properly. Talyn couldn't enforce in the real world, but he could in the Digiworld. He'd always thought of himself as a fair person, and making the right judgement was as important to him as breathing. Of course, there were times his views conflicted with Sofi's, but on those occasions she usually offered a completely different insight altogether. It was one of the reasons he enjoyed his time with her.
No, his decisions had all been fair, and he replaced the notes back to their hiding place. He was sure he didn't deserve the revenge that had been promised to him on that day, now months ago, but only felt like a fresh memory.
Myotismon had sworn he'd return and defeat Talyn and Patamon.
Sighing, he looked closely into the screen of his Digivice, wondering what Patamon was doing at that particular time, if he was worrying like Talyn.
Why had he been bestowed a Digivice? What were the reasons the Digiworld had chosen him and Sofi, and now Amy?
Knowing sleep would be another battle, Talyn returned to bed anyway.

"As Shakespeare claimed, there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so," Mr. Sasaki concluded.
Talyn copied the drawing down from the board, making a rough sketch in his notes. He sat at the back of the class, on the far right row, furthest from the door. He had a window next to him, battered and rusted, which hardly stopped any of the freezing air from outside entering.
The two-hour long Psychology lesson was dragging, no matter how Mr Sasaki tried to deliver it. The teacher had come all the way from Japan, and had apparently lived in England for almost five years now. Talyn had seen the small man around school before, but had never had him as a teacher before the A-Level Psychology lessons. His accented voice made him a little hard to understand at times, but he'd become an effective teacher in Talyn's opinion.
"This becomes an aspect of cognitive psychology, how people perceive and think about things," he continued, "There are many responses for any given situation, and just how people process information is one of the main studies of cognitive psychology; especially why people process things differently to other people.
So, you have your essay titles, I only want you to write an effective introduction today. This is a key skill you need in the exam, being able to draw your examiner in with your first sentence, let's see what you can do."
During the working time, Mr Sasaki wandered around the class of eight, inspecting their work and going through their folders to make sure they were keeping everything organised.
"Talyn," he said, sitting himself on the chair next to him, "Do you have your folder?"
"Yes sir," he replied, reaching into his bag and bringing out the large black organiser that contained all of the notes he'd created over the year. Mr Sasaki happily took it and started flicking through the pages, noting the use of dividers and summaries Talyn had created.
"This is very good," Mr Sasaki mumbled, "And how are you feeling about this year so far? Anything you need me to help you with?"
"No sir, I think I understand everything, I just need to practice writing essays on the topics," he replied.
"Very common problem," Mr Sasaki said, "Would it help you if I set a short essay question every now and then? Maybe as an extended homework task?"
"Yes sir, I think it would," Talyn said, knowing he was restricting his free time. Still, he had plenty of time at night; it was daytime he was worried about, because during those times were the only chances he had to go to the Digiworld.
"Well, we still have a long time before exam season hits us, plenty of time to practice. To make sure I know where you're at, I've created a short document I want you to fill in to hand back next lesson, everyone's got one, it's so I can keep a better track of everything," Mr Sasaki said, handing him the red piece of paper.
It was filled with short practise questions on every topic they'd gone over so far, and also some extension questions, Talyn skimmed it over quickly before placing it at the front of his book, nodding to Mr Sasaki. The teacher smiled at him and moved to the student in front of Talyn.
The last half an hour went by slower than expected, but that was because Talyn was almost completely distracted.
His mind raced over the developments around the Digiworld. How would things change now Amy had agreed to join them? How would Sofi and he possibly teach her all the things she needed to know?
He looked over to Amy, working in the opposite end of the class room. She'd barely said a word to him, except a quiet "hello" when they entered the class.
And then there were his nightmares. He knew the lack of sleep only made everything seem worse, but it wasn't something he could help.
The bell rung, temporarily breaking him out of his trance. It was the end of the morning's double lesson, and he packed his things up.
He stopped on the stairs as he spotted Sofi coming in from outside. She would have come from maths, but she was also with more of her friends, he didn't wait for her to come inside. The warmth of the winter sun washed over his face, brightening up every feature. He watched for as long as he dared; but it was never long enough.
The sight of her smiling and laughing made his stomach twist slightly, she was completely absorbed in the group, lacking the same worries he held. Of course, she had so much on her plate he doubted she had time to worry.
Amy had only that psychology lesson on Tuesday, so went home straight after. They had agreed to share each other's timetables so they knew when someone had free time. It had also been decided that Amy would have to be escorted by either Talyn or Sofi for a while, so that they could get as much stuff done as possible.
He gripped the Digivice inside his coat pocket, wishing he could talk to Patamon. The small Digimon would put his mind at ease, or at least share some of his worries.
Winter was definitely on its way out as February turned to March, but the days were still cold and Talyn couldn't help shivering as he stepped outside. He began walking to the library, winding around the mass of children that gathered in the school's main grounds.
Sofi wouldn't be joining him in the Digiworld today; she had a meeting with the head-student team. To a lot of people's surprise, she hadn't made head-girl, but was probably the most active member on that panel.
Talyn wasn't cut out for that. He didn't know his year that well anymore; he stayed away from the social areas, focusing his efforts on passing the final year and the Digiworld.
The library was as noisy at break time as always. He walked past every desk filled with annoyingly loud children and entered the second alcove, strolling to the bookcase and searching around before entering.
"Talyn!" a voice came, he recognised it instantly.
Sofi jumped into view from the English section. She'd somehow beat him to the library.
"Aren't you supposed to be at a meeting?" he asked.
"The team's all got lesson 3 off, so we moved it," she replied, "Are you going in by yourself?"
"Yes," he replied.
"You know I was thinking, once we got Amy up to scratch, it may be a good idea for her to stay in on Tuesdays, she could easily spend the day there," Sofi suggested.
"Not a bad idea," he replied.
"Oh, it's so exciting! Another member! I've also been thinking about how we're going to teach her, and what Sora said, there's so much to do!" she said.
Amy had been Sofi's talking point for days now, she had gone over what they needed to teach her to what they needed Amy to discover on her own and how they could help her out; it was almost getting annoying.
"Why don't we just bring her with us and see how she copes?" he suggested.
"I guess we could, but then the progress might be much slower, and we could run out of time before she even got to Ultimate," Sofi thought.
Despite his respect for Sofi, Talyn wished sometimes she'd turn her thought processes off. She somehow managed to think about a hundred things at once; it must have been more chaotic than his own.
"Well, let me know," he mumbled, and nudged inside the dark, quiet room, Sofi closed the door after him.
'Peace,' he thought.
The Digiworld flashed into brilliant existence around him, and he opened his eyes.
"Now that is a face like thunder if I ever saw one," Patamon proclaimed.
The hamster was curled up like he'd been waiting a while. Talyn cracked a smile and Patamon flew up to his shoulder, the place he enjoyed sitting the most.
"Are you alright?" Talyn asked.
"Yep, nothing bad has happened. Lopmon took Salamon for a walk to get her used to some places, just in case Amy comes in alone again, I've just been waiting here," Patamon replied, "What about you? You don't look too good."
"Same old," he replied, "Just worrying again."
Despite his usually quirky remarks, Patamon knew when to keep quiet. They walked through the forest for a while, enjoying the tranquillity. Besides the closed in atmosphere of the trees, Talyn felt more at home here than he did anywhere else at the moment. Most of his fears had been born in this very place, yet, the peace and isolation, the freedom, the air, all made him feel slightly more settled. The ground was soft under his shoes, a gentle breeze caused his coat to bulk up slightly, but there were no disturbances.
"Do you remember what Sora said about other Digidestined?" he asked Patamon, breaking the silence.
"No, I've slept a lot since then," Patamon replied.
"She said there was a chance that others may come and be here, and may have been here when we were; we just never really thought to look for them," he replied, "Do you think we should try?"
"You expect to find a single human in the whole Digiworld in less than an hour?"
"It's worth a shot, we certainly haven't found every access point yet, there must be hundreds scattered around, we can take a particular area and just search through that for a while," Talyn explained, "Imagine Sofi's reaction if we found another."
"You'd never hear the end of it though," Patamon argued, "And I suppose I'm gonna have to Digivolve to fly you around?"
Talyn held out his Digivice in front of him and stopped walking. He'd never understood exactly how the Digivice worked, but once Patamon could Digivolve into Angemon more or less at will, the Digivice had become more active. The display showed a couple of options, such as a map, or the level of Digivolution he needed to get to; it was touch activated.
Sofi used hers to gather information on different Digimon, they seemed to have most of them programmed in, but he guessed they could only activate a profile once they registered the Digimon.
"Champion?" Talyn asked.
Patamon considered this for a moment, "Yeah, I could probably manage that."
The Digimon flew off his shoulder and landed a few feet away. Talyn touched the Champion button and Patamon turned into a globe of light. When the flash came, Angemon stood in front of Talyn.
"I hope you haven't been eating much," Angemon said.
"No more than usual," Talyn replied, grabbing onto Angemon's arms.
Angemon took to the sky, soaring very high, very quickly, whilst he held Talyn against his chest. Talyn always thought it a strange Digivolution line, from a hamster to a powerful angel, but he didn't question the Digiworld and its ways.
When Angemon could look over most of the main island they were on, he stopped his ascent and hovered there, waiting for Talyn to pick out a spot to investigate.
"Can you see anything obvious first?" Talyn asked.
Despite his helmet, Angemon had fine eyesight, though just how he saw things Talyn would probably never know.
"Nothing; looks fine to me," Angemon replied.
"I guess… north-east? There's quite a large town there, I'd guess that's where a Digidestined may go," Talyn suggested.
"Good idea," Angemon replied, and started to fly again.
Talyn was never comfortable with this mode of transport, but it would take a lot longer walking. Angemon was more or less flying horizontally in the air gliding towards the north-east coast line, and Talyn still felt he may slip out of Angemon's grasp.
"Stop squirming," Angemon said.

When they landed, Angemon returned to Patamon, and climbed back up to Talyn's shoulder.
The town was one of the largest they had visited, and one of the most surprising. They had never expected to see restaurants where Digimon actually worked. Of course, there wasn't much for them to do, but they received the safety of numbers by working in the town. Talyn and Sofi had visited it a few months after they'd first arrived in the Digiworld. They regularly attended 'public events' and on more than one occasions had settled simple fights that broke out. They were, all in all, regular and respected visitors.
They hadn't had time to meet every single Digimon that lived there, but most had heard of them, and Talyn received a few favoured looks as he walked down the streets; Digimon waving at him, saying hello, some even bowing.
"I feel like a celebrity," Patamon exclaimed.
"You don't know what one of them is," Talyn argued.
"I heard Sofi and Lopmon talking about it," Patamon replied.
"We'll go and speak to the town leader first, see if he's seen anyone else," Talyn suggested.
The town was overseen by Pixiemon, a Digimon Talyn was sure hid its strength and was a lot stronger than it appeared.
"What can I do for you, Guardian?" Pixiemon asked.
They had arrived in the 'central' area of the town; a nicely kept stone based area that truly was the heart of this town.
"Well, the other day me and Sofi ran into another human, a Digidestined of olden times who'd come for a visit. I'm wondering if you have ever seen another human around this area? Or heard of any other humans visiting?" Talyn asked.
"We've only ever had reports, obviously with a town as large as this we have to keep an eye on happenings in other areas, but it's not been many, and not too frequently either," he replied, "Last one was a few months ago, we didn't even hear of the one you mentioned."
"Very well," Talyn said, "Thank you anyway."
He turned and walked away, it was what he'd been expecting anyway, the Digiworld was a large place, probably larger than his own world was. This town was tiny in comparison, the chance they'd have seen much in just the area around it was slim. But still, there was always hope.
"Where to now?" Patamon asked.
Talyn considered this; they hadn't been here ten minutes yet and could explore anywhere they wanted to.
"Maybe we could-"
He was cut off as an enormous crashing sound exploded behind them; they spun around and saw an extremely large Digimon had made its way into the town somehow.
"What's that?" he asked Patamon.
"Looks like a Tyranomon but, larger," Patamon replied.
His Digivice soon registered the beast.
"RustTyranomon, Mega level?!" he said, pausing over the last word, "I wonder where it came from?"
"We should call Sofi," Patamon warned.
"We can't, she's busy," he replied, "We'll have to take it on our own."
"Are you crazy? What about Amy?"
"She's not in school. What are you thinking?" Talyn asked.
"Have you seen the size of that thing?"
"I suggest you go straight to Ultimate," Talyn ordered.
"Patamon, Digivolve to… MagnaAngemon!"
The angel Digimon suddenly fell to its knee.
"What's wrong?" Talyn asked.
"Head spin, Digivolved too far too fast, too much power…I'll be fine," he replied.
"It's destroying the town, we need to move," Talyn exclaimed.
The RustTyranomon was causing chaos where it moved, throwing its arms around and battering the well-built homes of the Digimon who lived there; Pixiemon had already started defending.
MagnaAngemon returned to his feet and surveyed the scene, deciding his course of action.
"Talyn, I'll distract it, you need to get to Pixiemon and have him show you an access point, send out a distress signal, we may bring another Digidestined into this fight," the angel ordered.
"Good idea," Talyn replied and started running down the streets.
MagnaAngemon flew on ahead, his purple sword at the ready to strike the large dinosaur Digimon. Talyn knew MagnaAngemon was a surprisingly powerful Ultimate Digimon, but he could not guess the strength of the RustTyranomon; its sheer size was already a worrying aspect.
"Pixiemon!" Talyn called as the Digimon flew into view.
"We could do with your help, Guardian," he replied.
"MagnaAngemon has gone to distract it, but I need your help," Talyn said, "I need you to take me to the closest access point to the human world; there must be one around here."
"There aren't any in the town, but we think there's one just north of here, before the forest," Pixiemon replied.
"Will you take me there?"
Pixiemon looked back at MagnaAngemon, who had started to distract the attention of the RustTyranomon.
"Your Digimon may need help, I am staying to protect this town," he said.
"I understand; do any other Digimon know where it may be?" Talyn asked.
The sky suddenly darkened as RustTyranomon let forth a fireball as large as several houses straight at MagnaAngemon.
"I've never seen a Digimon like this," Pixiemon said, "I have to go!"
Talyn cursed, looking around desperately for any Digimon he suspected may know where to take him. The rookie and champion level Digimon were running and hiding, causing chaos in the street, whilst the ultimate levels, however few there were, were gathering with Pixiemon in the square. MagnaAngemon had avoided the blast, and was flying frantically around the RustTyranomon, disorientating it; Talyn didn't know how much longer the RustTyranomon would give him its attention.
He had to move. He took off at a run, meandering through the swarms of Digimon. It looked like they were moving to escape the town.
"MagnaAngemon," he called into his Digivice, "I'm going north to find the closest access point according to Pixiemon, try to redirect its attacks away from me, and I also think the Digimon are escaping this way as well. If we can get it to lose a lot of energy we may be in with a chance."
"I'll try," came the reply.
"You've got reinforcements coming your way," Talyn reassured.
He accelerated, clearing the first Digimon to leave the town. Beyond the streets and walls there was a well-travelled road made of gravel and soil. It wasn't the best running track, but he managed to keep up his speed.
"Does anyone know where this human access point is?" he asked the Digimon behind him.
To his expectations, they didn't.
Pixiemon had said before the forest, he had to look for things that could hold an access point; they certainly didn't hang in the air.
A roaring, mechanical cry came from behind him, it seemed the reinforcements had arrived, and were also distracting it.
"We're not doing much damage," MagnaAngemon warned through the Digivice.
"Just hold on a little longer!" Talyn replied.
Mega level was something Talyn had never seen before. The very sound of it was whispered through the Digiworld with an almost fear-like essence. He had no idea how to deal with one, loss of energy however, was his best bet.
Of course, there had been mega level Digimon in the past, as Sofi and he had discovered, but they were all but gone in the Digiworld in this day and age.
The access point was easy to find, he sighed with relief when he saw it. It was a screen inbuilt into one of the electric poles that led out of the town. He stormed over to it and activated the distress beacon, hoping someone, somewhere would find it.
"Beacon's activated," he said.
"Stay there," MagnaAngemon replied, "It seems to be weakening."
Talyn looked back, the RustTyranomon had gained considerable ground in the town, it was almost at the square by Talyn's estimation, but he also saw how slow it was. Its entire body seemed to be encased in metal, which made it appear chunky and awkward. But, he doubted they were ailments to its power.
"Come on," he whispered, looking back at the screen. He didn't know much about the access points, only they were programmed to different places in the real world, but could be reprogrammed to other places. Sofi and he had been turning all the access points they'd found to the computer in the library, so they could jump into any part of the Digiworld they needed to. They hadn't covered a fifth of it yet if he guessed, and they'd never found another access point in the real world.
The flashing red light that indicated the distress beacon continued; it would turn green before someone stepped through. They'd made good use of them in their time, as they got the distress beacon on the Digivices whilst in the real world, so if Sofi was in trouble, Talyn would know and be able to go and help. It was also how their Digimon signalled for them.
It was strange leaving their Digimon behind when they returned home, the Digiworld carried on as normal apparently, whilst Patamon, Lopmon and now Salamon waited for their return in the forest. Of course they had other stuff to do, but since they couldn't Digivolve without Talyn or Sofi being in the Digiworld with them, they had to remain hidden mostly.
A beep and a green light later, and Talyn couldn't believe his luck, maybe Sofi had been let out of the meeting. He stepped back as the portal flashed and before him stood a girl, not much older than he was; it wasn't Sofi.
"Who're you?" she asked, looking him up and down, "And what's with the get-up?"
"My name's Talyn, I need your help," he replied.
The girl looked beyond him and spotted RustTyranomon, her eyes widened a little, "Yeah, I'd say you do. Name's Rika."
"That Digimon's mega Level," Talyn warned.
"I'm on it, my Digimon is on her way," Rika replied.
A large yellow fox flashed into existence, causing Talyn to flinch slightly.
"Biomerge activate!"
Talyn watched with fascination as Rika and her Digimon, Renamon according to his Digivice, disappeared into a glowing light, much like Patamon's own Digivolution sequence. What emerged however was one single Digimon.
"Sakuyamon?" he looked at the screen, "Mega level?"
"I suggest we get this over with before that overgrown Tyranomon destroys any more of the town," Sakuyamon said.
"Let's go," Talyn replied.
They set off at a run, but Sakuyamon soon jumped into the air and flew the short distance, landing into RustTyranomon with a kick that sent the Digimon stumbling.
Talyn reached the outer wall, most of the town was cleared of Digimon now, and it was just MagnaAngemon and Pixiemon, with a few other ultimate Digimon who defended.
"Spirit Strike!" Sakuyamon shouted, and four jets of gaseous spirits shot out of her, aimed straight towards the RustTyranomon.
Each spirit struck, each one damaging the metal armour significantly.
Sakuyamon twirled her staff around and struck the Digimon's armoured rib cage, with more force than Talyn would have through possible. The RustTyranomon hunched over and roared at them. MagnaAngemon, on the other side, attacked again with his sword, prising the chest plate off completely.
"Amethyst wind," Sakuyamon called.
A storm of cherry blossoms rushed into view, guided by Sakuyamon's staff, they swarmed around the RustTyranomon, the lights in his metal armour flashing wildly, and soon pieces began to drop away. When the barrage of petals was finished, the RustTyranomon fell to the ground weakened.
"I will open the gate," MagnaAngemon said.
"No, wait," Pixiemon replied, "I wish to take this Digimon as prisoner."
"It's too dangerous," Talyn said, running into the clearing where the Digimon were.
"I will seal away its power, but I cannot stop its brute physical strength, are you sure you can contain it?" Sakuyamon asked.
"Yes," Pixiemon replied.
"Fox card," Sakuyamon said, and threw a card at the RustTyranomon. The card stuck to its side and flashed when it touched.
Sakuyamon then burst into light and Rika emerged from the light, followed by Renamon.
"Damn, lost energy," she exclaimed.
"What do you mean?" Talyn asked.
"Mega level Digivolution doesn't last long," she replied.
MagnaAngemon flew down to greet Rika and Renamon, and returned to Patamon.
"That angel came from that?" Rika asked, eyeing Patamon.
"That's quite a change," Renamon agreed.
"Well, a change I am most thankful for," Talyn exclaimed.
"Two mega Digimon in the same day," Patamon suddenly said, "Sofi's going to kill you."
"Who's Sofi?" Rika asked.
"My partner."
"There are only two of you?"
"Actually, there are three now," Talyn replied.
"But I don't sense you're particularly happy about that," Patamon interjected, earning a stern look from Talyn.
Rika looked at them both, "How come?"
"It's nothing," Talyn said quickly.
"He's lying," Patamon mused, "Come on Talyn, it's obvious you're uncomfortable, maybe she can help."
"You're more annoying than usual today," Talyn retorted.
"It's that Digivolving from rookie to Ultimate that's done it, fried my brain," Patamon smiled.
"What's the problem?" Rika pushed, "When I was a Digidestined here I was the trouble maker, I may be able to help."
Talyn had been cornered by his own Digimon.
"It's nothing," he said again. How could he tell this stranger how he felt?
Patamon was obviously disappointed, but Talyn didn't care, they didn't have long before they'd need to head back.
"You know sometimes it's good to talk," Rika said.
He found himself wondering if she actually cared; he knew nothing about her, wouldn't it be strange to tell her of his fears and doubts?
"We should go back, it's almost time to go," he said quietly.

Rika perked up again whilst they were walking back to the access point.
"I can see you have trouble talking about your feelings. That's nothing to worry about I guess, I used to be the same. I thought I was the only one who could deal with my problems, I never really had friends I could talk to," she muttered.
Talyn knew how that felt.
"Digimon was my life back then, it was originally a card game where I come from, and I was its champion. I didn't need people to talk to; I got by well enough on my own. Then I met my partners and everything changed, Digimon entered the real world as real things and everything I believed in turned upside down. I learned the true value of having people you can rely on, and what it truly meant to be a Tamer," she explained, "No matter how 'fine' you think you're going to be, or how long you think you'll take to get over things, having other people is better than having no one."
He thought about it, "What if… I'm afraid that this third person will break us apart? Sofi's my best friend, and she doesn't even know it. If Amy comes in, Sofi may find her a better friend than I am; and I'm not much of a friend."
"This Amy is your friend too, not your enemy. Teamwork takes trust if you're going to make it work. Do you think you and Sofi could have defeated RustTyranomon back there alone?" Rika asked.
"No, I don't think so," he admitted.
"Look Talyn, I never trusted anyone, or ever let anyone get close enough that they could hurt me, and that was a mistake," Rika said, "I don't know what your situation is, but being a Digidestined means trusting your team."
'But I'm not a Digidestined,' Talyn thought; but he remained quiet.
The access point was waiting before them, and Rika was the first to use it. She bade them farewell, and disappeared. Renamon bowed to them, before flashing out of existence as quickly as she'd arrived.
Talyn and Patamon were alone in the temporarily quiet Digiworld.
"Pixiemon will be fine reorganising the town and setting up repairs, they have enough Digimon to help them," Talyn said.
"You don't like Amy?" Patamon asked.
He sighed, "It's not that, Patamon. I don't know her. Sofi and I don't talk much in the real world, but this is our place. It's always just been the two of us, and we make a great team, even you have to admit that."
"You aren't friends in the real world?" Patamon questioned, looking down at him from his shoulder.
"We are, but we're not like how we are in here, if that makes sense," he replied.
"Do you love her?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"We don't have that term in the Digiworld, but I've heard it here and there."
Talyn sighed, "No, I don't love her… She's just, my best friend."
"Look Talyn, you've gotta stop worrying! Sure, Amy's gonna bring something new and different to our 'team', but she's not out to get you!" Patamon said.
"It just seems that a lot of things are changing and she's only just got here! The other day we met a Digidestined, today, we met two mega-level Digimon," he argued.
"But you said the Digiworld may change towards the end, and, it's getting closer," Patamon said sadly.
"I know it is," It hung over his heart every day. Their expected time was almost up, what would happen in the end? Would everything they did be remembered?
"Are you going to miss me?" Patamon asked.
"Patamon… you have no idea," Talyn replied.

They part walked, part flew home, as Talyn was conscious of the time.
"Rika's right, Amy's not your enemy, she won't try and mess up your friendship with Sofi," Patamon said.
"I'm afraid she's going to do it without realising it, she's much more… loveable than I am," Talyn smiled.
"Loveable? Talyn, out of all the five humans I've now met, you're the least loveable of the lot, yet you're still coming here with Sofi after all this time, don't worry about it!" Patamon smiled.
"I didn't want to bring this up, but my nightmares are returning," Talyn added, "I get the impression Amy's addition has triggered something."
"Then we'll just batter it out of the way like we did before, like we've done with every challenge before," Patamon reassured.
Talyn looked at his watch, "I'm going to be late for my lesson; I'd better go."
Patamon nodded and Talyn left his friend standing there. Rika had mentioned a few things Talyn was particularly curious about, the Digimon Card game was something he'd never heard of, and she'd mentioned the term 'Tamer'.
His thoughts however, quickly returned to upcoming Law lesson; his teacher, Mr Stenway, was rather strict when it came to punctuality; Talyn knew he'd be getting a backlash of words.
Law was his favourite subject, and he usually found himself easily distracted from his thoughts during the lessons; it couldn't be a bad thing.