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[one-vision2]

Hi again. 

  I know this isn’t the update you’re looking for, and I know I’ve written more of these than I have chapters, lol, but I’m just popping in to say, yes, again, I’m not dead. 

  But I don’t know how long it will be before I start posting again. I’m very sorry. A lot of my time has been taken up by college, and my mental health has taken a big hit recently, and I want to take the time to get myself in a better headspace. . 

 I want to thank everyone whose stayed with this blog for so long, and I’m so sorry to do this to you all again. 

  For now, here’s a little Jeri sketch. 

  And I’ll see you all later 

[one-vision2]

Chapter 5 - Foreboding

Takato flattened the drawing out against the table, smoothing the edges and matching up torn pieces. Jeri sat beside him, silently. Kazu had tried to talk to him, but Takato only mumbled or said he was fine. So, everyone else left, probably to take up Henry's offer of helping out. Takato sat down beside Jeri and sighed. "Guilmon hates me," He whispered, placing his chin in his crossed arms. Jeri gave Takato's shoulder a comforting squeeze. "He doesn't hate you. He'll come around. If there's even the tiniest bit of the Guilmon we know tucked away in there, then he'll come around,"

Takato shifted his head so that he was looking at Jeri. "I'm really glad you're here Jeri. I don't what I would do without you," Jeri smiled and wrapped her arms about Takato.

  ---

 There was a water pump just on the outskirts of the little village, where Chuchidarumon said the kids could fetch some water, and also vaguely mentioned something about a broken roof. Kenta and Rika went to get the water, Henry and Kazu to help with roof repairs. Suzie and Ai found some of the village kids, Betamon, Gotsumon and Floramon. The Digimon kids were overjoyed to have someone to play with them.

 Kenta placed a bucket under the water pump, and grabbed the pump with Rika. "Poor Takato,"

"Don't," Rika said. "No amount of sympathies is going to fix this,"

"You don't feel sorry for Takato?"

"Of course I do," Rika replied, grunting at a particularly hard push. "I can't imagine how he feels. But just sitting here and feeling sorry for him won't do anything,"

"So what do you suggest we do?" Kenta wondered, replacing the full bucket with an empty one.

 Rika paused, resting her arm on the water pump.

"As regards Guilmon? The worst thing we can do is overwhelm him. So we should probably only let one of us talk to him, and at least give him some space for now,"

 Kenta nodded. "Chuchidarumon said he was protecting the village right?"

"Yes?"

"And he spoke directly to Suzie and Ai, probably because he has a soft spot for the kids?"

"So what you're saying is we try and get Suzie and Ai to coax him out?" Rika asked. Kenta shook his head with a smile.

"I think he needs someone who understands that protectiveness,"

 Rika smiled, and pushed herself off the pump to continue using it. "Henry,"

"Exactly. So, you tell Henry about our idea?" Rika narrowed her eyes at Kenta. "Because you're better friends with him than me, that's all,"

"Mm-hm," She hummed in disbelief, but Kenta just smiled innocently at her. "Sure. I'll tell him about it,"

 One more push filled the second bucket to the brim. Rika was about to bend down to pick up one of the buckets, when a ball came flying out of nowhere, knocking over both buckets. Rika and Kenta cried out in shock and jumped back, but not in time to avoid water splashing over their jeans.

 Rika's head snapped up, her eyes dark.

The Digimon and Ai pointed at Suzie, who was grimacing from embarrassment. Rika crooked her finger at Suzie, who took off in the opposite direction, Rika promptly giving chase. Ai and the Digimon scattered, screaming out of fear/joy. Kenta sighed and fixed the buckets back in place.

---

 "Do you think Rin and Shouta are jerks?" Kazu asked. He and Henry were carrying a plank of wood between them. Henry blinked at the unexpected question. "Ahhhh, uuuh I don't really know them," Henry blurted out. "Is this over what happened with Kenta?"

"He had no reason to throw them under the bus like that," Kazu huffed. "They never did anything to Kenta,"

 Henry raised an eyebrow at Kazu. "Well I mean... they are annoying,"

"Yeah but I'm annoying,"

"You're tolerable annoying," Henry smirked. "Most of the time,"

Kazu sighed as he and Henry laid the plank on a pile beside the broken hut. "Am I overreacting?"

Henry went to reply, but was interrupted by something colliding with his leg. Henry yelped and stumbled. "Save me, save me! I didn't mean it!"

"What the-"

 Rika dashed up to them, but skidded to a halt, panting. "How the hell are you so fast?" She huffed.

"Uh...?" Henry looked between her and Suzie. Suzie hid her head behind Henry, but he could see the faint smile in her eye. Rika jabbed and accusing finger at Suzie, but took in a deep breath and let it drop. She shook her head. "Nevermind," She looked up to Henry, and cocked her head to the side a little. "Can I talk to you for a sec?" She glanced over at the two Chuchidarumon hoisting a plank of wood up to the roof. "It's about Guilmon?"

 "Uh, sure," Henry said, and followed Rika to a quiet spot.

Kazu turned to Suzie. "What was that about?"

"I spilled water on her,"

"And lived???"

"Whats up?" Henry asked, after Rika brought him away from the crowd.

"I... think you should talk to Guilmon,"

 Henry reeled back with an incredulous look on his face. "What-you-me??"

"Yeah. Actually, it was Kenta's idea,"

"But why me??"

 Rika shrugged. "Think you might be able to get through to him. What's the worst that could happen?"

"I could end up like that drawing,"

"Oh please, you think after everything Takato and Guilmon went through, that he would hurt an innocent person? Hell he couldn't even hurt a bad person,"

 Henry pursed his lips. "Okay, you have a point there. I can try, but I don't really see what good I can do,"

"Try is all I ask," Rika said.

"You said it was Kenta's idea?" Henry said, trying to change the subject. He gave a weak nod over to where Kazu was falling victim to a game of tag with the kids. "Think those two will make up?"

"Make up? They never fought,"

"Yeah, but that whole thing with Kazu's friends-"

"Oh please, Kazu is blowing that way out of proportion,"

"From our perspective," Henry said. "He doesn't know what they're like when his back is turned,"

 Rika held out her hand. "Okay, I'll go get them to talk while you give Guilmon  pep talk. Deal?"

 Henry sighed. "Okay, deal,"

 Rika smirked, and waved her hand as a gesture. "He's over there," She said and walked away.

 Surely enough, perched on a hill on the outskirts of the village was Guilmon. Henry made his way over, thoughts of what he could say running though his mind. Guilmon saw him approach, but made no move to leave.

 Henry sat down beside him. "So. Hey,"

"Hi," Guilmon said, not looking at him. "So what's your name?"

"Henry,"

"You came up here to tell me to go talk to Takato, Henry?"

 Henry shrugged. "Well, no. Not really, I mean, sure, eventually,"

 Guilmon gave him and confused look.

"I just came to say hi," Henry said. "And to, y'know, ask what's wrong?"

"Hmm, let's see, a bunch of aliens came out of nowhere, told me they created me and that I have no family, so it's been wonderful," Guilmon growled.

 Henry balled his hands in his sleeves. "Okay. That's uh... yeah, sorry about that,"

 Guilmon didn't say anything, and instead went back to watching the kids playing in the distance.

"You really take this protection thing serious, don't you?"

"They're just kids," Guilmon replied.

"Yeah. It's hard to believe how young we were,"

"Huh?"

 "Oh!" Henry said. "Uh, see that girl down there with the purple hair? Yeah, we were all the same age as her when we first came here,"

"Is she a younger evolution of you?"

"Uh," Henry scratched his head. "No, no humans don't really do that. It's more like a slow, gradual thing,"

"Humans are weird," Guilmon shook his head.

 Henry scratched at his palm. "Look, I don't know what to say to make you feel better, but Takato, and the rest of us for that matter, really care about you. The whole reason we're here is to find you, and our other friends. They-"

 Henry was cut off by Guilmon's ears perking up suddenly. He turned his nose to the sky and sniffed loudly. His pupils contracted to the size of a pin, and a growl escaped from deep in his throat.

 Henry froze at watching this change. Guilmon turned to him.

"There's a bell at the bottom of the hill, go down and ring it," Guilmon said, getting up from his spot.

"What, why? Guilmon, what's going on?"

"A raid, now go ring the bell!"

"A raid!?"

"Go!" Guilmon snapped. "And hide with the Chuchidarumon,"

"What are you going to do?" Henry said, eyes wide. ""Whose raiding?"

"I've dealt with them before," Guilmon said. "And you don't want to meet him, trust me. I can handle this, just go,"

 Groaning, Henry turned his back to Guilmon and took off down in the hill. "Takato's going to kill me,"

[one-vision2]

Hey everyone! I am still not dead! Sorry about the such late updates, but I’ve been very busy - I’ve had to move for college, and that has taken up most of my time. 

I have the next chapter written, and all I need now are the drawings - I only need a couple more, so I might be able to get the next chapter out today! 

  However, I mentioned before that I’ve switched to Digital Art. When I did, I was using Krita. Now, I’ve switched to Fire Alpaca. You can probably tell when from the drawings, as Fire Alpaca has much darker lines. 

  I’ve only started using FA this weekend, so the art has gone down in quality, because I still need to get used to it! I might still try and put some traditional art in sometimes. 

  Thank you all for bearing with me through this!

[one-vision2]

Hey everyone! Just posting an update to say I’m not dead, and chapter 5 is on the way!

  A couple points to note - I’ve switched from traditional art to Digital, which I am still getting used to, so please bear with me! 

  And I also want to thank everyone for their patience and support regarding this story! Thank you all so much!

[one-vision2]

Heya! I was wondering if you are planning to continue the story :D

I am hoping to, but right now I’m busy with portfolio stuff, I’m sorry I haven’t said anything! It might be a couple months before I get anything done, I’m sorry 

[one-vision2]

Chapter 4 - Questions

The kids all sat down on a bench inside the hut. The Chuchidarumon sat in a wooden chair across from them, and Guilmon stood beside him, anxiously rubbing his claws together. He avoided Takato's gaze, but every so often would glance at the mysterious boy.

"So," Chuchidarumon said. "You must be a long way from home?"

"Um..." Henry spoke up, when he noticed that Takato wasn't going to say anything. "Y-yeah, we are,"

"Where is it you are from?"

"The real world,"

Guilmon cocked his head.

"That is far," Chuchidarumon said, stroking his chin. "Perhaps you would like to stay the night? We have plenty of food and space,"

"We appreciate that, thank you," Henry replied.

"And so long as you are under our roof," Chuchidarumon continued. "Guilmon will protect you,"

  Everyone turned to Guilmon, who stood tall.

"He has been protecting this village for over 5 years now. He certainly looks threatening enough to do it!" Chuchidarumon chuckled.

  Takato shifted slightly, looking toward Guilmon. He swallowed thickly. "So... Guilmon...how did you end up here?"

  Guilmon threw Takato a quick side glance before turning to face him fully.

"I don't know. I just woke up here one day. That's all I remember," Guilmon said.

  Before anyone could say anything, Chuchidarumon stood up. "Well, if you'll be staying here with us, you can stay here in this  hut. Guilmon, won't you help me bring in some spare bed clothes?"

Guilmon nodded, glancing back at the kids with his head hung low before following Chuchidarumon out of the hut.

For a moment, no one said anything, Kenta clapped his hands and his leg. "So, that was... what??"

"Something must have happened to Guilmon before he came here," Jeri said, speaking to no one in particular. "That has to be the reason why he doesn't recognise us?"

"Well it's not like we could've gotten the wrong Guilmon," Kazu muttered, leaning back and crossing his arms behind his head.

Henry leaned forward in his seat, to look at Takato, who was staring at the doorway. He looked back down at the floor.

"I don't really remember Guilmon," Ai spoke up. "Was he always so... angry looking?"

"No," Takato said. His hand curled into a fist. "He's... he's completely different now... and I don't mean that he doesn't remember me," Takato turned back to face everyone. "I mean... he's different. Even when he started to get more mature, he never... he never acted like that,"

"I thought so too," Rika said. She folded her arms, staring at her crossed knees. "I thought that it might be because he lost his memories, like he was raised differently?"

Takato shook his head. "That's not enough to change him like that,"

---

Chuchidarumon handed Guilmon a pile of cloth. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing,"

"Don't lie to me, you're thinking something. Is it about our guests?"

Guilmon shuffled on his feet. "They're... weird,"

"How so?"

"They knew my name," Guilmon said.

Chuchidarumon slowly sat down in in a armchair, using his staff to help support him. "So. You spend your days roaming around our village protecting us, not knowing who you are, where you came from, or who your family is. And when someone you never met before call your name, you greet them with caution and glares?"

Guilmon grimaced. "They're not Digimon,"

"Whoever said your family had to be Digimon?"

"Aren't you my family?"

"Whoever said you can only have one family?"

Guilmon pulled his head back slightly. His tail waved slowly behind him. He threw his head over his shoulders, to look at the strangers' hut from the window.

"They said they were from 'the real world'?" Guilmon asked. "What did they mean?"

Chuchidarumon slid the remainder of the bed clothes across the table to Guilmon. "Why don't you ask them?"

---

Suzie suddenly hopped off her seat and dug her hand into her dress pocket. "It's Dad!" She proclaimed, answering her phone. "Hi Dad!... Yeah we're all safe, everyone is here, and we already found Guilmon!... So what does that mean?... Oh that's great!" She covered the mouth piece of the phone and whispered "We're able to call each other no problem now,"

The kids all gave their own quiet motion of joy.

"So we can call you if something goes wrong? Yay! Thank you Dad! Wait a minute Dad, why did you call me and not Henry?" Suzie gave Henry a swift nervous glance, and Henry stiffened.

Suzie paused, and her face lit up. "You think I'm responsible!? Really!?"

Henry let out a sigh of relief, that didn't go unnoticed by Rika.

"Thank you so much Dad! Of course I will!! Okay, talk to you later, love you," Suzie hung up and squeezed her phone to her chest. "Dad says he think I'm responsible and I can look after the communication!"

Henry smiled at her. "Well you are the age we were when we first came here,"

Suzie stood up straight and gave a firm nod. "Right! I will do a good job,"

"I know you will,"

Suzie grinned. A tuft of sand kicking into the hut alerted everyone of Guilmon's presence.

"Hey," Takato said.

"Hi," Guilmon replied gruffly. He set the pile of clothes he was carrying down on the table in their hut. "Here's your stuff for the night,"

"Thank you," Henry said. "And if you need help anywhere, let us know so we can pay back your favour,"

"Thanks," Guilmon said.

He turned to face everyone, only to notice they were all staring at him, and started rubbing his claws together. Everyone took the hint and pretended to be interested in something else in the room.

Except Ai. Who was looking at Guilmon with her head tilted.

"What?" Guilmon asked.

Ai blinked. "Ah, sorry I just never seen you up close before,"

Guilmon recoiled slightly, and Ai's cheeks grew red.

"Y-you don't have to stay here the whole day y'know," Guilmon said. He glanced between Suzie and Ai. "You can go play with some of the kids, if you want,"

"Okay," Suzie said. "Thanks Guilmon," Suzie took Ai's hand and marched outside.

After they left, Guilmon strode across the room to a window. "When you guys said you were from the real world... what did you mean?"

The kids all made various sounds of pause or confusion, but Jeri stood up and walked over to him. She crossed her arms on the window sill and pointed to the sky. "See that big thing up there that the Data Streams are connected to? That's the real world,"

"We use data in our world, as information. Because there was so much, it ended up creating the Digital World. That's uh... that's the small version anyway,"

Guilmon stared up into the sky for a moment, before quickly stepping outside to get a better look. Everyone looked over at Takato. He stood up, and followed Guilmon outside.

Guilmon stared up at the sky, and then turned to Takato. "Are you saying you created our world?"

"Uh, short answer yes, long answer no," Takato chuckled. "It's really complicated. I find it hard to understand myself,"

Guilmon turned back to the sky. "Why did you come here? How do you know my name?"

Takato shrugged. "The answer to both is... we used to be friends. And I promised I would find you,"

Guilmon didn't move. "That sounds hard to believe,"

Takato shrugged. "Yeah. I know,"

Guilmon finally looked over at Takato.

"What's your name?"

"Ah, Takato!" Takato jumped, completely oblivious to the fact that he hadn't introduced himself.

"You're weird Takato," Guilmon said, causing Takato to frown. "How do I know we were friends? I mean... I've never met another Guilmon before but that doesn't mean I'm the only one, right?"

Takato bit his lip, and looked down at his feet. "I... I don't know how to say this Guilmon, but you are,"

Guilmon cocked his head.

Takato swallowed thickly and snaked his hand into his hoodie pocket, pulling out a small piece of paper. "Here,"

Guilmon took the it from Takato, seeing a small, crude drawing of himself on the paper. The paper itself was torn at the corners. There were spots of illegible and smudged writing all around the actual drawing.

"Guilmon, I'm the one who made you. With that drawing. I mean, I'm much better now, I have better ones at home but that one... that was the first one I ever drew of you, the drawing that made you,"

Guilmon stared down at the tiny piece of paper in his hands. Gently, Guilmon traced one of the lines representing his back with a claw.

"I wanted you to be really cool, and the best Digimon in the world,"

Guilmon's lip curled and his eyes narrowed. He tore up the paper and crushed it in his hands, chucking it back at Takato. Takato caught the paper in the air. He held it close to his chest, looking back at Guilmon with wide eyes.

Guilmon snarled at him, before turning away and storming off.

[one-vision2]

@killa-7 soon!

Just finished this sketch of Guilmon for Chapter 4

[one-vision2]

Just finished this sketch of Guilmon for Chapter 4

[one-vision2]

Chapter 3 - Guilmon

Rika strode back to the group, and tossed Henry back his phone. "I gave your Dad everyone's phone numbers, and he said he can hook everyone up with a radio signal that can bypass any in the Digital World. We should be able to talk to one another, and to your Dad the whole time. But he has no idea how data streams affect them,"

"Well we're going to be avoiding the data streams anyway," Kazu said with a laugh.

  Rika shook her head. "Don't remind me,"

  Suzie looked at Henry with a grin on her face. "Is Dad helping us?"

  Henry gave a small nod. "Yeah, he is,"

  Her grin only grew wider.

"Is this the portal?" Ai asked, peering around the side of the hideout. "Its smaller than I had imagined,"

  "Alright Takato," Rika said. "You lead the way,"

  Takato stepped forward into the stony cabin, the space somehow feeling smaller than it usually was.

With Takato first, followed by Jeri, Henry, Suzie, Ai, Kenta, Kazu, and Rika bringing up the rear, the kids each made their way to the portal.

  Takato felt the wind behind him flowing down the tunnel to the portal. His eyebrows furrowed slightly. This hasn't happened last time, did it?

  This thought just registered in Takato's mind when it was too late, and he was sucked inside the portal. He yelped in shock. Colours and shapes flashed past his face. He vaguely heard his friends around him, screaming.

Takato's face hit something soft, and there was a bitter, salty taste in his mouth.

He sat up quickly, spitting out the sand. He wiped furiously at his tongue and eyes to rid himself of the sand.

When he could see again, and wasn't on the verge of throwing up, he looked back at his friends.

Jeri had landed on her butt, and was currently standing while patting the back of her legs. Henry was in a similar position Takato was in.

While Kenta had avoided getting and sand in his eyes, his glasses were not so lucky. Rika had landed in her side. She wasn't too bothered by the sand, so helped Kenta clean off his glasses.

Ai had landed on top of Suzie, and was climbing off her. They had also managed to kick a wave of sand all over Kazu, who was still trying to climb out from under it.

"Is everyone okay?" Takato croaked. Everyone wordlessly gave a thumbs up.

"I don't remember that happening," Rika said, handing Kenta his glasses back.

"Me neither," Suzie said.

"There aren't any Data Streams nearby," Jeri noted.

"What are they?" Ai asked, looking around the Digital World in awe.

"They're streams of Data that connect the Digital World to ours. They travel all over, and if you get caught in one, you can be sent anywhere in the Digital World," Rika said, as she climbed to her feet and put her hands on her hips.

Ai's head snapped over to her. "What?"

"Ai, we warned you that it was dangerous," Kenta shrugged.

"Yeah but you didn't say anything about mobile teleporters!" She retorted.

"They won't do anything if we don't go near them," Suzie said, standing beside Ai and smiling at her.

Ai looked up at Suzie and wrung her hands together. "O-okay," she said with a nod.

Almost everyone stood, taking in their surroundings and converging to talk.

Kenta noticed that Kazu was sitting on his knees, looking over at a mountain top. Kenta shuffled over to him. He shoved his hands in his pockets and weakly kicked sand up onto Kazu's knees. Kazu looked up at him.

"Hey... you okay?"

Kazu seemed to snap out of his stupor. "Oh, yeah! I'm fine man, it's just... good to be back, y'know?" Kazu turned his head away.

"...yeah," Kenta said with a small smile. He sat down next to Kazu.

"Kazu I-"

"Did you guys hear me!?" Henry called.

  The boys looked over at the group behind them.

  "There's huts over there," he said, gesturing to the left, where the others were heading. "We think it might be the Chuchidarumon,"

  Kenta turned back to Kazu, only to see that he had already gotten up and was walking over to the others.

  Kenta sighed and followed suit.

"Henry, should we call Dad and let him know we're here!?" Suzie asked, skipping up to him.

"Uh..."

  "Your Dad said that he would call us when he's established a connection through the Digital World," Rika said, glancing at Henry.

  Suzie glanced at Henry too, her smile dropping. Henry bit his lip, and looked down at his hands.

  Suzie smiled again. "I can't wait to see Lopmon and Terriermon,"

  Henry smiled down at her. "Yeah, me too. But you can't dress them up this time,"

"I know! But you have to admit, Terriermon in a dress was really cute,"

"It was terrifying," Henry laughed.

"I used to dress up Impmon too," Ai said, striding up beside Suzie.

  "Please," Rika said. "Tell us everything,"

  Jeri listened to Ai telling the rest of the group all about the various costumes Impmon had worn, as she walked beside them. She felt a hand slide into hers. She smiled at Takato.

"It's weird being back, huh?" Jeri said.

"Yeah. It feels like I'm in a dream," Takato agreed. "Jeri, promise me that if anything happens-"

"Nothing will happen," Jeri said, giving Takato's hand a comforting squeeze. "But you'll be the first to know,"

"Thank you," Takato whispered.

Jeri smiled, but then her eyes flicked over to just behind Takato's head. Slowly, her eyebrows turned down.

"Is that...?"

Takato's turned. Not to far away, shuffling along the sand on the outskirts of the small village, was a hunched over, red dinosaur, sniffing at the air.

"Guilmon?" Takato whispered in disbelief. A giant grin split his face. "Guilmon! It's Guilmon!" He cried, darting forward.

Jeri took off after him, and after the others got over their initial shock, ran too.

"Hey!" Takato called as he drew close to Guilmon. Guilmon turned his head to look at Takato.

And growled.

Takato skidded to a halt. Guilmon faced Takato, his teeth bared and throats rumbling an all too familiar sound.

Takato took a step backwards. Upon seeing this, the others slowed to a halt. Ai quickly hid behind Rika.

"G-Guilmon?" Takato stuttered.

Guilmon's eyes narrowed, and his growl grew slightly quieter.

"C-c'mon buddy, it's me..." Takato gave a nervous smile. "I know I'm a little different, but you still recognise me, don't you?"

Guilmon didn't say anything, but continues to growl lowly. He glanced at the group behind Takato, who were watching on.

Takato took a cautious step forward, and slowly extended his hand. "Guilmon, I'm not going to hurt you-"

Guilmon snapped at him, and Takato leapt back, falling over onto the sand.

"Who are you?" Guilmon snarled.

Takato opened his mouth, but no words came out. How could Guilmon not know who he was?

Guilmon leaned down. "Who are you!?"

"No one to be afraid of," Said a voice. The voice came from one of the huts, and Guilmon immediately quieted. He stood up straight and looked towards the hut.

A Chuchidarumon emerged from the hut, holding a staff. He drew up close to Guilmon. "They are weary travellers, simply looking for a place to stay, isn't that right?"

"Uh..." Takato mumbled.

"Do not be frightened, Guilmon, they won't hurt us. They know your name, don't they? Don't you want to know why that is?" Chuchidarumon said.

Guilmon looked back down at Takato with a questioning look. Finally, Guilmon sighed, and stuck out his hand. Guilmon helped him to his feet as Chuchidarumon waddled back into his hut.

"Come on in. All of you," He said. Guilmon trotted up to the door, and turned back waiting for the others.

The group of children all gave each other confused looks, before turning to Takato.

Takato shrugged, and followed the Chuchidarumon. Silently, the kids all stepped inside the hut, Rika giving Ai a comforting pat on her shoulder.

[one-vision2]

Quick sneak peak into chapter 3 because I did this but I have no idea when it'll be finished 😂 sorry for the wait guys!

[one-vision2]

Quick Update

So, I wasn't aware that Tumblr had a text limit? Which sucks, because the tail end of Chapter 2 kind of got cut off. It still looks okay, so I'm just going to roll with it! I think I found my chapter size though, hahaha!

Also, I just want to say that I hadn't really put much thought into continuing this, it was more of a practice run, but after seeing these comments

I actually got excited again! So thank you @lexrius and @killapolis for saying these, they made me so incredibly happy!

So I'm going to keep going forward with this!

[one-vision2]

Chapter 2 - The Digital World

Takato tapped on his desk impatiently as he waited for the clock to tick down. He kept glancing down at Henry and Jeri. Both of them were just as agitated.

The minute the bell rang, the trio jumped out of their seat.

"I know what you're thinking Takato-"

"That we have to go?" Takato interrupted Jeri, as the three of them rushed to their classroom door and took off down the hall.

"We can't just up and go, Takato!" Henry called after him. "It might not be the portal," 

"What else could it be?" Takato replied.

"Well even if it is, we aren't prepared!"

"Henry's right! We have to at least tell someone, an adult-"

Jeri was interrupted by Henry this time.

"That's not what I meant," He said, grabbing onto Takato's jumper sleeves to slow him down. "We need to consider food, defence, survival, how we can communicate. It's very likely our phones won't work in the digital world,"

"We don't need food, our bodies sustain themselves, remember?" Takato said. "And we have the Digimon for defence, and we'll just stick together,"

"How long until we find the Digimon?" Jeri said. "And we need to tell someone, an adult so that-"

"Fat load of help they were last time," Henry mumbled.

"Can you stop interrupting me please?" Jeri said. "And yes, they were a lot of help Henry, they were the ones who sent us Grani to get us back. We need to make a plan to get home afterwards,"

Takato finally slowed to a stop, and rubbed his temples. "Yeah... yeah you're right Jeri," Takato turned around to look at Henry.

"No," Henry said.

"Henry, he's the only one-"

"No!" Henry repeated. "I am NOT asking him for help!"

"Henry, please," Takato begged, as Kazu and Kenta began trotting up behind them.

Henry stared at Takato, his eyebrows knitting together. His hands balled up into fists and he gritted his teeth.

"It's just to keep connected with the real world, that's all," Takato said.

Henry hesitated, then sighed deeply. "Fine," he growled. "If it is the portal,"

"Thank you," Takato said.

"If it's the portal?" Kazu said. "Why else would Rika want us to go to the hideout, in the middle of class?"

"I don't know, but Henry has a point," Jeri said. "She didn't say why we needed to be there,"

"Well, whatever it is, it's urgent and she wants all of us," Kenta said. "And we only have two minutes to decide what to do," he pointed at the wall clock, indicating it was almost time to go to the next class.

"We're going to the hideout," Takato said, sounding more like the level headed leader he used to be. "Rika wouldn't alert us for nothing,"

  The gang jogged the rest of the way to the school doors, Takato pushing his way outside. He was about to take off down the street, when he heard voices behind him.

  With his heart in his mouth, Takato swung around to see a teacher, looking behind her. She was talking to the principal. Neither had noticed them yet.

  Kazu quickly, but quietly beckoned for them to hide behind the school wall, and everyone dove behind. Henry lay against the wall with his hand clutched over his heart, while Takato struggled to peer around the wall. He felt Jeri's hand on his upper arm.

  Kazu cursed, crouching down. "What are supposed to do?" He whispered, making Jeri shush him. Everyone grew silent, and strained to listen. The two voices began to grow slowly closer.

  Takato peeked around to see that they had passed the main entrance. He turned to the others.

  "They're coming this way," he mouthed.

  "What now?" Henry mouthed back.

  Just then, the school bell rang, and a rush of noise was heard inside at the students  scattered to their classes. The group cheered silently, and got ready to run.

"Do you have a class to go to, Miss Amikawa?" Asked the principal.

"No no, we can keep going," Amikawa said.

  Their hearts sank. Takato leaned forward to see if they could make to the other side of the wall in time, when Kenta darted out infront of the staff.

"Principal Yamesuke, I'm glad I found you!" He said, the others looking on as if he were crazy.

"Mr Kitagawa, shouldn't you be in class?" The principal asked.

"Yes, but I was looking for you. Rin Tsukara and Shouta Watakame were fighting in the halls!"

  "Oh!" The principal declared, in a panic. "Thank you for letting me know, um, stay right here, Miss Amikawa, will  you come with me?"

"Yes of course!" Amikawa replied, and the two faculty members ran back inside the school.

  Kenta leaned back to let the others know, when Kazu sprang up and hit him lightly on the shoulder.

"What the hell was that!?" He complained.

"What? I was distracting the teachers,"

"Yeah, by telling them Rin and Shouta got into a fight!?"

"So?"

"Hey," Takato tried to intervene.

"So!? They're my friends, they're going to get in trouble for this!" Kazu argued.

"It was the first thing I could think of, and besides, they're jerks!" Kenta retorted.

"Hey!" Takato said.

"Not always!" Kazu said.

"Being a jerk sometimes still makes you a jerk!"

"Knock IT off!" Takato shouted, standing between them. "You guys can argue about this later, but we have no idea how long his portal will stay open for, so let's move, okay?" He said gently.

  Kazu and Kenta glared at each other for a brief moment, before giving a curt nod.

  "Alright, now come on," Takato said, taking the lead and keeping a steady pace.

  When they eventually reached the hideout, all of them were out of breath, and Rika stood there with her arms folded. She uncrossed them as they approached.

"You guys sure took your time," She spat.

Her voice held a bit of annoyance, but her face showed that she was just as worried as they were.

  "Sorry Rika," Takato panted. "We had... to deal... with a teacher,"

  "Please tell us... that it's the portal?" Jeri asked.

  Rika's eyebrows turned up in concern for a moment, before she returned to her old expression and nodded. She stepped aside to allow the others to peer inside the hideout. The familiar rocky tunnel glowed a bright, luminous blue, the air around the centre rippling.

  Takato felt his chest close up in anticipation. He looked back to his friends, all of whom held similar expressions.

"So this is it then, right?" Kazu said. "We can go now?"

"Henry-" Takato was interrupted.

"I know," Henry said taking his phone out from his pocket. He glared down at it, chewing on the inside of his cheek. "Really wish we didn't need his help,"

"Your dad?" Rika asked.

Henry nodded.

Rika held out her hand. "Do you want me to do it?"

Henry looked up at her. "A-Are you sure?"

"Of course, I don't mind," Rika smiled.

Henry handed his phone over to her with a sheepish smile. "Thanks. I owe you one,"

"Oh I know," She said, putting the phone to her ear and walking out of earshot.

"This is for the best, Henry," Jeri said. "It's going to help us in the long run,"

  Henry gave a sigh, and put his hands on his hips. "Yeah. Yeah I know," he looks around at the others. "And I know no one wants to think about this but... do you think we'll find Ryo?"

  Henry instantly regretted asking.

  Takato shifted on his feet, Jeri looked to the ground, Kenta gritted his teeth and hands, and Kazu stiffened.

  "I don't know," Takato said after a moment of silence. "Let's hope so though,"

"Hey!" The tired voice of Suzie called.

    Suzie thundered up the staircase that led to the hideout and ran up to the group, panting. "You weren't... going to leave... without me..."

"Of course not," Henry said with an edgy laugh. Though everyone was glad for someone to interrupt the somber mood.

  Another girl jogged up to them, about a year younger than Suzie. "I'm coming too!" She exclaimed, out of breath.

"Ai?" Takato asked.

  Ai nodded, and stood as straight as she could. "I wanna see Impmon!"

  "No offense Ai-" Kenta began, but Ai interrupted him.

"Don't!" She said. "Suzie was younger than me... when she went... to the Digital World! And I was... a Tamer before all of you! Even though... I thought he was a teddy bear..."

  "Ai, this isn't just a field trip out in a forest," Kazu said. "Not just anyone can go,"

"She's a Tamer," Jeri said. "She's not 'anyone',"

  Takato crouched down in front of Ai, and looked her in the eye. "Ai... I have no right to say whether or not you can come. But this is very dangerous. There's a lot of Digimon that will try to kill you, the weather is harsh and unpredictable, and if you get sick, there's no hospitals. And just because we've already been there before, doesn't make this any less dangerous. You have to be absolutely certain that you want to do this,"

  Ai took in a deep breath. "I want to do this. For Impmon, and my brother Mako,"

  "Then you have to stick by us. And do what we say, okay?" Takato warned.

Ai nodded. "Aye captain!"

[one-vision2]

Chapter 1 - Pilot

"Takato!" Kazu called from the street below as Takato tried to pull his shoes on. He jumped off off bed to shove them on, wobbling a little.

"Takato!" He heard again, this time as He fitted the goggles on his head and snatched his digivice.

"Taka-"

"I'm up!" He roared out his open window, looking down to the street, where Kazu and Kenta stood waiting for me. "Stop shouting already, jeez,"

Kazu folded his arms and Kenta shot him an apologetic smile.

Takato thundered down the stairs and snatched the plastic bag from the kitchen counter. "Bye mom!" He cried quickly, barely hearing her reply before he was out the door into the early morning sunshine.

"Sorry I'm late guys," He said.

"It's okay," Kenya said, and Kazu gave me a grin.

"Wait, I know it's non-uniform day, but are you seriously wearing those goggles?" Kazu asked as we began to walk down the street.

"Yeah," Takato muttered .

"You might get detention," Kenta said.

"Highly doubt it. Oh by the way, my Dad baked these last night," Takato said, handing over two small loaves of bread in the shape of their Digimon Partners.

  Kazu's, in the shape of Guardromon, has a chocolate filling, and Kenta's, in the shape of MarineAngemon, had a strawberry jam filling in the heart.

  The guys took the bread graciously.

"Thanks dude," Kazu said. "Didn't know your dad was still making these,"

"Well, since it's the anniversary and all that..." Takato said, trailing off to look at his feet.

  For a moment, the guys were silent. Of course they hadn't forgotten what today was, they just didn't want to think about it. Eventually, Kenta broke the silence.

"If the teachers say anything about the goggles, I'll vouch for you,"

"Yeah man, me too," Kazu said, tearing a bite out of the bread.

"Thanks," Takato said weakly, as they drew up next to the Wong house. They didn't need to open the gate, as they already spotted Henry and Suzie stepping outside their door.

"Oh hey, everyone is here already," Suzie said, waving frantically.

"Hm?" Henry hummed.

  Suzie trotted down the steps to her gate with a grin on her face. "Hi!"

"Heya Suz," Kazu said.

"Hi Suzie," Kenta smiled.

"Morning Suzie. I got you something," Takato said, handing over a small plastic bag.

  Suzie took the bag and peeped inside curiously. She gasped. "Lopmon bread!" She squealed, taking the out chocolate-covered, bunny-shaped bread. She hummed as she sniffed the freshly baked bread.

  "It smells so good! I'm going to have this for my lunch today, everyone will be so jealous. Thanks Takato!" Suzie said, quickly stuffing the bread in her bag as she headed off towards her school. The guys waved her off as Henry closed the garden gate behind him. 

  "Don't worry Henry, I didn't leave you out," Takato chuckled, handing over another bag.

  Henry gave a weak smile, and took the bag with a barely audible 'thanks'.

  Kenta frowned. "Hey, you oka-"

"Yeah," Henry said,  little too harshly. Kenta was slightly taken aback, and Henry sighed.

"Sorry Kenta, I didn't mean to snap," Henry said. Kenta relaxed, but didn't say anything.

"Suzie keeps trying to get me to talk to Dad," Henry huffed.

  Takato grimaced. "So I take it you still haven't told her what really happened?"

"No," Henry said, shoving his hands in his jean pockets.

"Are you going to?" Kazu asked, still chewing on the bread.

  Henry hesitated. "... do I have to?"

  Takato shared a glance with Kazu and Kenta. "I mean... kinda, yeah,"

  Henry groaned, and Takato gave him a pat on the shoulder. "You'll be fine,"

"I just think she's too young," Henry said.

"She's the same age we were when it happened," Takato pointed out.

"I know but... still. It'll crush her,"

  Kazu and Kenta grimaced at the statement, but Takato gave his friend a sad look.

"Let's not think about that," Kenta said, trying to lighten the mood. "Let's focus on class, and then we can all go to the hideout,"

  "Yeah, like we do every year!" Kazu cheered.

  Takato hummed in approval, and Henry looked slightly happier, even if it was something he put on. He knew he wasn't fooling anyone, but it helped lighten the mood.

  Kazu and Kenta started to chat about one of the latest games, so Takato slowed down a little alongside Henry.

"You don't have to tell her now you know," He said. Henry looked at him.

"She has her right to her own opinions, but she's your sister. If you think she's too young, or not ready, then it's your decision,"

"Thanks, Takato," Henry said.

"But don't leave it too late either. The longer you leave it, the more angry at you she'll be,"

"I know," Henry nodded. "I just... know how much she cares about Dad. I don't want to ruin that for her yet,"

  Takato nodded. He didn't have any siblings, so looking out for someone definitely went over his head sometimes. It was best left for Henry to decide.

"Takato!"

  Takato's face lit up at the sound of his girlfriend calling him. They were nearing the school gates, and Jeri was there waiting for them.

She rushed over, embracing Takato in a tight hug. Takato chuckled, and squeezed her back. "Good morning Jeri. How are you?"

"I'm good," Jeri said, pulling back to look him in the face. "And you?"

Takato nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine, don't worry about me,"

Jeri smiled, then turned to the other guys. "Good morning everyone,"

"Morning Jeri," The guys said, a mixture of happy and tired voices.

"You're coming to the hideout later, aren't you?" Asked Kazu.

Takato rolled his eyes. The anniversary is technically just about him, and the day he met Guilmon. Met? Drew? Created? Accidentally invented? Whatever, it was all the same day. Yet Kazu was always more excited about it.

Jeri gave a nod. "Of course,"

Kazu fist pumped. "Alright, we just need confirmation from Rika and we are good to go!"

Jeri cocked her head. "Rika's not coming in today,"

"What? No way!" Kazu complained.

"How come?" Takato asked.

"Her Mom has a home shoot for a magazine, and Rika said she'd help move equipment," Jeri replied.

"She missed a day of goofing off to move stuff?" Henry said with a curled lip.

"Well she does want to go into photography, so being around the equipment would be good experience," Takato said.

"She's also getting paid,"

"Ooh," The guys said.

"Do they need any other helpers?" Kenta asked. Everyone laughed at him, but Takato was able to detect the slight voice break. Because if Rika wasn't here then-

The bell rang, signalling for the students to get to class. Henry and Kazu ran inside to avoid being late, and Jeri tugged at Takato's arm.

"We'll meet up at lunch, okay?" He called to Kenta, who was shuffling along. Kenta smiled at him, and that was the last Takato seen before he rounded the school gates.

Takato and Jeri made it to their class just before the teacher, and sat down next to Henry. "Gee, thanks for waiting," Takato said with over dramatic sarcasm, and Henry simply shrugged with a cheeky smile. Well, he seems to be a lot cheerier since this morning. That's a good sign.

Class started, and Takato started drumming his fingers on the table. The teacher didn't mention anything about the goggles on his head, so Takato decided to let the fact it was a sunny day, slide. It was about ten minutes before the first class ended when his phone buzzed in his pocket.

Takato straightened up, and glanced around to see if anyone was looking. He noticed Henry reach into his pocket, and Jeri place a hand over hers.

Takato frowned. Was it the group chat?

Slowly, Takato took his phone out of his pocket, and glanced down. He gasped at the message from Rika.

Rika: Everyone to the hideout NOW