Moving Up (Arya/Sakura/Open)

[yagami]

Odaiba Residences

Hands stuffed into the stomach pocket of his hoodie, hair tied back in a simple manner and wearing his usual dark jeans, Ryusuke was glad that there was actually a practical reason for wearing the thing, rather than simply using it to hide his prosthetic arm while in public. Summer was more or less drawing to a close, and while the days were still warm enough to be uncomfortable while wearing the garment, the night and predawn air was cold enough to require it, at least in his case. It wasn't exactly night anymore, but it wasn't really morning either - the sun still had yet to rise for another ten to fifteen minutes, so while it was light enough to see outside, distinguishing specific shapes at a distance was still something of a chore, exactly what Ryusuke was counting on. With any luck Sakura would be able to make it here without anyone spotting Gaomon and calling her out for what he was, at least until the sun rose - Ryusuke intended to be long gone by then, though.

It had been a few days since Kazai's impromptu gathering of the local digidestined at the junior high school, but it had been Ryusuke's own words that had forced him to reevaluate what he had been thinking, to work up from scratch information wise. Gathering information on AIR itself was essential if they intended to do anything about the group, a proposition Ryusuke still had misgivings about, but there was another, bigger issue that hadn't been addressed at the meeting - they knew virtually nothing of the digital world itself. They had no idea how big it was, it's geography, and above all, where it was possible to travel back and forth between that world and the one he was currently in, a lesson that he'd learned the hard way. If they intended to fight anyone or anything there in an organized manner, they had to know where they were, what they could use to their advantage, and most importantly, where to run when things went sour. Still, Ryusuke wasn't about to do it alone. While he wouldn't admit it, he was terrified of the idea of ending up trapped in the digital world the way he had been last time, and one of the first lessons he'd learned since then was that there was strength in numbers, which was exactly the reason he had asked Sakura along for the ride - in addition to being one of the more level headed people at the meeting, she was also one of the most atheletic, which would be a big help on this trip.

That, however, had led to another problem, and was the reason Ryusuke was currently standing on one of the narrow street corners where the walls of the surrounding properties hid him and anyone else on the streets from view rather well. While Sakura may be able to get away with passing Gaomon off as a dog, Monodramon was an entirely different story, which was also why he was still back at the house, remaining in Ryusuke's room now that his cousin had gotten back from her trip. If he had taken Monodramon out in public it would have caused an immediate uproar, and it wasn't like they could just hop through a portal where people might see them - Ryusuke had even rejected the idea of meeting at the school again, figuring that they probably shouldn't press their luck any further than they already had. Meeting at Sakura's house was also a no go - while her father apparently wasn't home very often, that still left her mother and brother, and Ryutaro and his partner were volatile enough that Ryusuke didn't want to risk him tagging along. Ryusuke's house, however, was another matter - like Sakura's father, Ryusuke's dad wasn't home often either, and Arya was not a morning person. If they moved before the sun rose, they could easily get through the house and be in the digital world before anyone was the wiser. Rolling his shoulders to stretch without pulling his hands out of his front pocket, Ryusuke leaned back against on of the streetside walls, wondering what was keeping Sakura.

[anima]

<sub>When Ryusuke had asked her about joining him on an excursion into the digital world, Sakura had been more than happy to oblige. The plan was to try and map out the place to get a better idea on the geography. Sakura's first trip to the digital was more or less a disaster. They had quickly lost Hanzo as quickly as they found him, and trying to protect her little brother as they ventured through strange, monster infested territory. Sakura had been extremely paranoid the first time, but that had been more or less because she hadn't quite expected it, never mind planned for it.

This was different though, thankfully. They had a general idea of what they were doing, and she was with Ryusuke, a boy close to her age who clearly had his head on straight, unlike her little brother and his partner who was hot-headed in more ways than one. Not to mention, Sakura had a chance to gather supplies that would be of help for them, especially if this turned into a long term trip. Large package of trail mix, a small tent, sleeping bag, a pair of water canisters, and pretty much the basics of outdoor survival packed into a large hiking bag. It had a bit of weight to it, but she was careful not to more than necessary.

Sakura stepped out her front door, with Gaomon close behind her. The two only took a couple of steps away, before Sakura paused and pulled out a peculiar device. A disguise matrix. She had a digimon she had met had gifted it to her the first time they were in the digital world, and they had only managed to figure out how to get it working recently. Sakura placed the object on Gaomon's chest and pressed a button on it. Gaomon's appearance suddenly warped, until it became that of a young, blue haired girl with shockingly yellow eyes. "Feeling alright?" She said trying to get a look at Gaomon in the low light.

Gaomon looked down at herself. Digivolving into Gaomon had felt great. This though, was entirely different. Strange. She really did look like a human. "I'm okay. Just something to get used to. Ryusuke's probably waiting for us. Let's go." Gaomon said, and with her partner's agreement they set off towards Ryusuke's house. They had to get there before sun rise, otherwise getting to the digital world would just be that much harder.

Even with the street lights illuminating the roads and sidewalks, it was still fairly dark in places, and it wasn't until they were a few feet away from Ryusuke that he actually saw him. "We're here." Sakura said to him. "It's Gaomon. We should hurry though." Sakura explained before Ryusuke could even ask about her 'human' companion. Looking east, the sky was showing hints of red, as the sun approached the horizon. It'd be up soon, and out here wasn't really the best place to explain the disguise matrix.</sub>

[azzale2]

Arya woke with a start. What time is it? She glanced at the clock beside her bed and groaned. Too early. She rolled over, trying to get back to sleep. Damn. Now that she was awake she couldn't go back to sleep. She glanced around her room. It was still fairly dark, an almost gray colour. From the lack of light, she guessed the sun hadn't even risen yet.

She was about to get up, but decided against it. She was none too eager to leave the warm and comfortable confines of her bed. She knew once she got up she wouldn't be able to get comfortable again. She pulled her blankets up over her head. So warm..... It was so quiet, she wondered if it was always this quiet in the morning. She wouldn't know, she wasn't a morning person. It took all her will power just to get up and ready for school on weekdays. On the weekend there was no hope of her getting up before noon.

She decided it wasn't likely for her to fall back asleep, so she sould get up and go to the washroom and eat something. She heaved herself from her bed and went to relieve herself. When she finished she walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. She pulled out some bread and butter and made herself toast.

She put her plate in the sink when she finished, deciding to wash it later. She walked back to her room and plopped down on her bed. She rolled under the covers and nestled in, hoping that having some food in her stomach would help her get back to sleep. She closed her eyes and tried to dream.

[yagami]

Almost as soon as Ryusuke's back touched the wall he noticed movement in his peripheral vision, turning his head towards the source of it to see Sakura and another person he didn't know emerge from the darkness beyond the street lamp's light. Another digidestined, one who hadn't shown up at the meeting a few days ago? It wasn't until a moment later that he noticed Gaomon wasn't with Sakura and that this person didn't have a digimon with them either, and Ryusuke was about to ask where their digimon were and who the stranger was just before Sakura cut in, answering his questions before they could be asked. While Ryusuke was again sorely tempted to ask how that could've been Gaomon, he recognized that this was neither the place nor the time.

"Probably. Dad's not due to be home for a few more days, but my cousin is back. She's not a morning person, but we still shouldn't push our luck." Ryusuke said, pushing off of the wall with his back and noting the rather large bag that Sakura had with her and wondering what exactly she'd packed in it. Given that he had no idea where they would emerge in the digital world he'd planned to travel light, taking only a pair of binoculars and a few other odds and ends in a small shoulder satchel that was in his room. Shrugging mentally, Ryusuke figured that Sakura wouldn't have brought it without good reason, or at least hoped so - in all truth he didn't know her well enough to make a proper guess, but she seemed to be a practical person. He was still surprised by the idea of the blue haired girl being Gaomon, though - there was certainly a slight resemblance, but it was a trick the likes he hadn't seen of yet. Turning away from the wall, Ryusuke began walking towards his house, less than a hundred feet down the street. Pausing in front of the walkway and glancing back for a moment to make sure Sakura and Gaomon were following, Ryusuke moved up to the front door and quietly opened it, moving into the house and leaving the door partway open for the other digidestined. The computer in the living room was already on and running in preparation for their departure - only thing left was to get Monodramon from his room. Silently moving up the stairs, Ryusuke moved down the hall to his room and eased the door open, slipping in and moving towards the small satchel on his bed, Monodramon over by the window and looking out.

"Time to go?" Monodramon asked quietly, turning to look back over his shoulder at Ryusuke for a moment.

"Yeah, we're leaving. Just be quiet walking down the stairs." Ryusuke said, shouldering on the bag's strap and moving back towards the door as Monodramon backed away from the window and moved to follow. Making sure that Arya wasn't in the hallway before leaving the room, Ryusuke began moving down the stairs with Monodramon right behind him.

[anima]

<sub>"Yes, it's me." Gaomon assured Ryusuke when he gave them a questioning look. If the blue hair, and yellow eyes weren't enough, there was no mistaking her voice, which did sound oddly mature for a girl who appeared no older than fourteen years. Despite the blatant hints, the disguise matrix was still a handy device. Even if she did have some odd features, no one who didn't already know about the existence of digimon would even consider thinking she was one.

Intent on not wasting any more of the night, Sakura followed Ryusuke to his home. They all went quietly, heading up the front walkway, and Sakura took the door after Ryusuke passed through, allowing Gaomon in before slipping inside herself, quietly closing the door. Sakura and Gaomon then went into the living room, which was dark, save for the flashing of the computer screen as it's screen saver played.

"You really think all that stuff is necessary? What if we have to abandon it? The digital world isn't exactly a camp ground." Gaomon whispered to her partner, staring at the large bag. Albeit, the thing wasn't exactly full, but it was still quite a bit of stuff, and it cost Sakura hard earned money to get. It really would be a shame to lose all of it if they were attacked suddenly and had to flee.

Sakura sat down on the couch, and began carefully picking through her bag. They needed the sleeping bags, who knows how cold it could get where ever they were going. Food and water was a definite must. The only thing she could think of that they might do without was the tent. But as Ryusuke came down the stairs. "It's too late to sort out what we're bringing." Sakura whispered back as they approached. The tent wouldn't really take much weight off anyways, and Sakura was used to carrying heavier bags than this anyways.

"I'm ready when you are. I hope you know how to open the gate." Sakura confessed. She herself had no idea how to go about it, her first trip to the digital world was the result of button mashing her digivice and sheer luck (good or bad being up to debate). She looked over her own digivice, but it remained quite on responsive to her gaze.</sub>

[azzale2]

Arya's eyes popped open. She heard voices downstairs. Voices she didn't recognize. The only voice she recognized was Ryusuke's. She strained her ears, trying to make out what they were saying. She heard footsteps coming up the stairs. She could tell it was Ryusuke by his gait and the sound of his footsteps.

She shut her eyes tight. Hopefully her cousin wouldn't come look into her room. She heard his footsteps heading towards Ryusuke's room. She sighed, Ryusuke was probably going to hang out with some of his friends. She heard the sound of his footsteps heading back out of his room and down the stairs.

Wait. Was that a second set of footsteps she heard? Coming from Ryusuke's room?! After Ryusuke's footsteps passed, she opened her door a crack. She saw something small and purple walk by. She was interested, so she leaned forward, trying to get a better look at it.

THUMP

She kicked her door closed by accident. She quickly and quietly slunk back into her bed, rolling over and closing her eyes, pretending to sleep. Please don't come check on me. Please don't come check on me. She silently prayed. The last thing she wanted was for Ryusuke to find out she was awake and scold her.

Things were just starting to get interesting, she wanted to see if she could follow them and find out what was going on. If she was careful and quiet she might be able to do something exciting today. But only if Ryusuke didn't catch her.

[yagami]

The moment Ryusuke had reached the bottom of the stairs, moving quickly but quietly, Monodramon heard something behind him, and stopped to look back at the empty hallway. He didn't really see anything that could have caused the sound, but there had been no mistake that he'd heard it. Was there someone else up on the second floor who was awake? Taking a step back from the top of the stairs, Monodramon began thinking about taking another look around when Ryusuke's voice, not quite a whisper but far from speaking aloud, carried back up to him - the teen, noticing that the small dragon wasn't behind him after one or two steps, had stopped and turned around himself.

"What are you doing? We're on a schedule here." Ryusuke said from the bottom of the stairs, one hand on the railing as he leaned over to look up at Monodramon. The dragon, not particularly wanting to cause any trouble, simply dismissed the sound with a shrug before moving down the stairs himself, glancing back over his shoulder one last time before he and Ryusuke moved into the living room where Sakura, Gaomon and the powered up computer awaited, with his classmate already asking a question, one that stopped Ryusuke for a moment.

"I never really thought about it, I just kind of did what worked before. The first time the gate opened was when someone held their digivice out to a screen, and I've just been doing the same myself." Ryusuke said blankly and with complete honesty before moving towards the computer to stand in front of it, Monodramon at his side. "More or less like this."

As Ryusuke finished speaking he pulled his black and red digivice out of his pocket to hold it up and in front of him, facing the computer. Almost immediately the screen woke up, shifting from a dark background to a brilliant blue white as the digivice itself began beeping - a moment later Ryusuke and Monodramon were gone, with the screen settling back to the way it had looked before, albeit now with a small red, black and green window open on the desktop, showing a forest and grey wall of stone beyond it.

Infinity Mountain

Standing just as he had been in the real world with a small monitor placed on the ground behind him and seemingly in the middle of no where, Ryusuke quickly looked around at his surroundings, ready to run at the slightest sign of danger but relaxing when he saw nothing. Letting out a sigh of relief and moving to put the digivice back in the pocket he'd pulled it from, Ryusuke noted with some irritation that his clothing had changed again, and rather than being tied back in a simple but practical manner, his hair was braided, yet again. Well, it wasn't all bad.... at the very least the boots that came with the clothes were suited to what they intended to do this time around, and the clothes themselves were at least comfortable - Ryusuke was just glad that the green satchel he'd taken with him hadn't disappeared with the rest of his clothes, and after opening it and examining the contents, he was certain that nothing else had changed or disappeared, either.

Glancing around yet again, Ryusuke took note of the monitor on the ground behind him as Monodramon wandered off a few feet, making note to remember the electronic's location. As he looked closer, though, he noticed something he hadn't before on any of the other screens - he could see his living room on it from the computer's perspective, with Sakura and Gaomon still on the other side. Curious but not enough to delve further into the matter, at least not at that moment, Ryusuke stepped away from the screen and moved off a few feet as he examined their surroundings, leaving plenty of room for the other pair when they emerged.

[anima]

Ryusuke didn't seem to certain when he explained, but none the less, once he aimed his digivice at the computer, both devices came to life with a flurry of light as sound. This isn't really quiet. Sakura thought, shooting a nervous glance towards the stairs. When she looked back to Ryusuke, he had completely vanished, and the screen's bright flash was reduced to show an odd screen with a window showing a forest and a stone wall, as well as Ryusuke and Monodramon on the other side.

Meanwhile Gaomon's gaze had been drawn to the stairway as well, waiting for someone to pop up. Ryusuke said his cousin was staying with him, and she couldn't imagine anyone sleeping through the noise it had caused. "We should go quickly. I think I heard something upstairs." Gaomon whispered urgently, taking position in front of the computer, her ears still straining to hear noise from upstairs.

Sakura nodded. She'd have an especially difficult time explaining herself should anyone catch her now, as a stranger apparently uninvited in Ryusuke's house. Trying to say Ryusuke invited her in when he wasn't even there would not be believable at this point. After she put her backpack on again, she pulled her digivice from her pocket, and aimed it at the computer. Once again she found herself blinded by light, and being physically pulled into the computer.

-------
-------

Once again Sakura found herself in one of the forests of the digital world. She quickly got to her feet, along with Gaomon. The only other place Sakura knew of in the digital world was the road sign forest. This particular forest obviously wasn't it, as there wasn't and road signs around. Further more, it appeared they were at the very edge of the forest, with the rocky wall in the background being the side of an amazingly tall mountain.

Sakura looked down at herself with disappointment. This same stupidly revealing outfit she had been forced to wear last time. It was kind of frustrating really, it was revealing only in the places where it shouldn't be... Chest, upper thighs. Everywhere else was covered up decently. Who could even come up with this outfit? Fortunately though, her hiking bag was intact. Thinking about it, she wondered if she could have brought a change of clothes here.

Gaomon's disguised appearance hadn't changed at all upon arrival in the digital world, but nonetheless, the canine digimon was done looking like a human. She pulled it off, and her form phased out, only to reform into her true appearance. "It's called a disguise matrix if you're wondering. It can make a digimon look relatively human. Doesn't seem to work on my fur and eye color though, so I suppose it isn't perfect." She said, handing the gadget to Sakura who put it into her bag.

"They're apparently pretty rare. A digimon we had helped had gifted it to us, not really sure how one would go about getting another one." Sakura added on. She supposed there were digimon out there that might sell the devices. That aside though, they had more important things to do than think about where to get a disguise matrix. They were out here to map out what they could of the digital world. "So, where should we start?" She asked. Right now they seemed to be on the edge of a mountain and a forest, but being a cartographer was not something Sakura herself had any experience with.

[azzale2]

Arya held her breath as the second set of footsteps stopped. Surely they couldn't have noticed her? She had made a lot of noise, but still! She breathed a sigh of relief as the footsteps continued. She had been sure that she would have been busted. She wanted to have an adventure! And she was fairly sure that Ryusuke and his friends were going to have an adventure.

She decided to chance leaving her room to see if she could see anything. She quietly opened her door, careful not to kick it this time. She slowly eased her way down the hallway, stepping as lightly as possible. She made it to just before the stars when she stopped. She didn't want to risk stepping out in plain sight. Instead she carefully slid her pocket mirror on the floor to see if she could see anything.

She saw a few glimpses of people talking, and a flash of the purple thing again. She saw them head towards the living room, then she lost track of them. She cautiously peeked her head around the wall, in time to see a flash of light in the direction the group had headed off in. A few seconds later, another similar flash came from the same direction.

Arya was feeling very adventurous today. She quietly crept down the stairs. She reached the bottom and glanced around. She blinked in surprise. Where were they? They had disappeared! She was sure they hadn't opened any doors or windows- so how had they left? She walked into the living room to see what they had been up to.

She looked around, the only thing in there that could have caused the flash was the computer, but it was black and unused. She was about to go back to her room and leave the mystery unsolved, when she saw a flicker on the computer. She leaned closer to get a better look.

The computer screen lit up. But this was different from how it had been for the others. The screen was blindingly white, not blue. She squinted at the brightness, shielding her eyes. She looked back at the screen as her eyes adjusted. In the middle of it was a device of some sort. It seemed so real. On an impulse, she reached out to grab it.

She was surprised when her hands closed around it. It felt so right in her hand, like it had been made for her. She brought it closer to her, and as she took it further away from the computer, the screen dimmed. She looked at the device closely. Suddenly it let out three loud beeps. They rang out in the empty house like thunder.

She turned the device over in her hands. It was an odd thing to look at. It seemed to be made to her tastes, and even seemed to mirror her personality. She glanced up at the computer. Just what is going on?

[yagami]

As Ryusuke stood in the clearing and looked almost straight up, still not seeing the peak of Infinity Mountain through the mist that seemed to permeate the base of the massive monolithe, a flash of light suddenly lit up the rock face several meters in front of him and he heard two distinct thuds several feet behind him as Sakura and Gaomon materialized out of thin air. As he and Monodramon both looked back in an unconscious mirror of each one's action, Ryusuke had to admit he'd always been curious about what the process looked like from the other side - whenever he'd entered or left the digital world thus far he'd either been alone or the last person to make the transition. He did note, however, that while Sakura's own massive bag remained as it had been in the real world much as his own satchel had, her clothing had changed rather dramatically.

"Nice to see I'm not the only one. I was beginning to think I was the odd one out - none of the other people I've met so far gave me the impression that their clothes changed when they came here." Ryusuke said, watching over his shoulder as Sakura and Gaomon stood up from where the portal had deposited them on the ground, with the blue haired girl reaching up and yanking a small device from her body, in turn finally shifting to the form Ryusuke recognized. As Monodramon began walking forward, done watching the display and other pair's recovery, Ryusuke remained where he was as Sakura and Gaomon both directly addressed him.

"I'm not sure. First thing we need to do is find a way up that isn't as steep as it is here, we'll never make it up a wall like that with everything we're carrying. After that I guess we just keep climbing until we have a view of the entire island, but we shouldn't have to reach anywhere near the top for that." Ryusuke said, turning his head to face forward and look up at the mountain again as he spoke, with Monodramon already at the rock wall and inspecting it himself.

"Speaking of which, what'd you pack in that thing anyways? I didn't think we were planning on being here for more than a few hours, but that thing looks way too heavy for a day trip." Ryusuke said, referring to her bag as he looked back over his shoulder again at the other pair. While he'd avoided asking about it in the real world in the interest of expediency, he was curious about what she could had possibly needed or thought she would need for a trip that wasn't meant to last beyond nightfall - she seemed like the pragmatic sort which was one of the reasons he'd asked her along rather than one of the other digidestined, but he couldn't imagine what would take up that much space or be so heavy. As Ryusuke was looking back over his shoulder his gaze drifted down to the monitor on the ground again, freezing as he did so. Clearly shown on the screen was still a view of the Yagami household's living room from the computer's perspective, but with one major difference - instead of being empty there was a person in front of the screen, reaching forwards as if to touch it.

To put it rather honestly, Ryusuke had not considered the fact that the portal wouldn't close behind them as it had every other time he'd gone through it, but what the hell did he know? So far he'd been through the gateway a grand total of five times, with the trip just a minute ago included. What had Ryusuke's mind ocuppied, though, was the possibility of Arya actually being able to see them through the screen on her end, as they could clearly see her from where they were. It wasn't until her hand came away from the screen without any indication of familiarity or other sign of recognition that Ryusuke breathed a momentary sigh of relief, at least until he saw what she was holding. While he'd attempted to be rather discreet about where he was looking so as not to alarm Sakura, keeping quiet was a moot point by now - Ryusuke saw what Arya was holding, and while the color and design was different from his own digivice, it matched several of the others he'd seen the other digidestined possessing. As Monodramon began walking back towards the two humans and other digimon, done with his inspection of the rock face, the purple digimon remained completely unnoticed as a single word left Ryusuke's mouth.

"Crap."

[anima]

<sub>When Ryusuke observed her outfit, Sakura's face turn slightly red in embarrassment, but was relieved that he didn't decide to poke fun at her for it. "Yeah, I guess it's just a quirk about coming here. Can't say I'm much of a fan of this though. I should have thought to bring a change of clothes or something..." Said Sakura, a small smile appearing on her face. Looking at Ryusuke, his outfit had changed quite a bit too. Sakura found herself envious. The cloak was a bit on the long side, but she would have preferred it well over what she currently had.

As Ryusuke explained their plan, Sakura looked up the rock face. It was clearly a mountain facing them, but the peak was hidden from view by a veil of mist coming off the trees. Sakura frowned. How far did that mist go? "I hope that mist doesn't pose too much of a problem. Climbing the mountain won't do us any good if we get to the top and the view is blocked by it all." Sakura noted, scratching the back of her head. It would be a real pain if they climbed all the way up there and they couldn't see anything.

Then the question of her bag's contents was raised, Sakura tilted her head in confusion. "It's not that heavy. I've carried heavier bags for longer." She said patting the top of the bag down, which collapsed under her hand. It was a huge bag, but it wasn't really that full. "I know we weren't supposed to be here for long, but I figured I'd pack some camping supplies just in case something happens and we end up stuck here for longer than we intend to. Two sleeping bags, a small tent, bag of trail mix, lighters, medical supplies. Useful stuff. It really isn't too heavy."

While Sakura spoke with Ryusuke, Gaomon followed Monodramon to the rock face to examine it. She put her paw up to it, but there was no reasonable hold to grab onto, and her boxing mitts only made this climb even more impossible. "I don't suppose you can fly can you?" She said, more for the sake of conversation than anything else. If they were going up this mountain, they would have to find a spot that wasn't this steep.

As the two digimon returned to their partners, Ryusuke said one word that almost always meant trouble. Gaomon looked towards where Ryusuke was looking, which was the monitor, and she spotted it too. "She has a digivice..." Gaomon noted. Then that meant she had a partner, though by what Ryusuke had told Sakura, he wasn't aware of her being a digidestined, so it looked like she had just obtained it.

Sakura frowned as well as she looked towards the monitor. This certainly wasn't good. "Maybe she'll just turn away and leave." She said, taking a step away from the monitor to put herself out of range of it's view, though it was probably too late now. It certainly was hopeful thinking to suggest she might go away after receiving her digivice, but what could they do now, it wasn't like they could just tell her to go away.</sub>

[yagami]

No shit she has a digivice. Question is how she got it. Ryusuke thought, watching with almost palpable angst while Arya continued to look the device over. While Ryusuke would freely admit he had no idea how he'd gotten his, he'd more or less been rendered unconscious upon being pulled out of his world and dropped into an entirely different reality, complete with a brand new change of clothes - upon waking up in the digital world he'd merely found the device in his pocket, much as the other digidestined that he'd met beforehand had. That hadn't been the case here, though - Arya was still clearly in the real world, which begged the question, where the hell had it come from? It certainly hadn't been on the computer's desk, Ryusuke knew he'd have noticed that, but he couldn't figure out where it'd come from. One moment Arya had been there with nothing in her hands, and then it'd magically appeared in her grasp a moment later, and no matter how much he thought about it he couldn't figure out where it came from short of the computer itself. That, however, was hardly the issue - Ryusuke did not want her in the digital world. As it is he'd barely been able to survive in it thus far, and only with a good deal of luck and several close calls, and that was exactly why he'd asked Sakura to come along on this trip - she was more than capable of being able to look after herself if her reputation among the school's athletes was to be believed.

After several more moments of tension, though, with Arya showing no sign of being aware of them on the computer screen, Ryusuke slowly let out a breath, unconsciously lowering his clenched shoulders and Monodramon likewise relaxing, the digimon glancing once more at the screen before moving off into the brush just out of sight from the monitor Arya would have a vantage point from in a rare show of situational awareness. While Ryusuke was somewhat explainable through a number of different means, although not all of which Monodramon could honestly say he understood, he knew enough to realize that while the humans could find an excusable explanation to what was going on, it wouldn't be easy to do if the girl looked at the screen with both a purple dragon and blue haired dog thing present, and it was Monodramon's movement that finally brought Ryusuke's mind back to the present. Suddenly realizing it'd probably be a good idea to move outside of the screen's vantage point as both Monodramon and Sakura had done, Ryusuke took several steps backwards to place himself outside of what he remembered of the screen's view from the other side, nervously watching the monitor for several more moments before looking away from it to Sakura and Gaomon for a moment, and then up into the mist that circulated the base of the mountain.

"Yeah, maybe." Ryusuke said, for once actually hopeful that Arya would prove somewhat unobservant and just go back to curl up in bed. He'd have to explain things to her just as Hanako did him, there was no getting around it since the last thing he wanted was for her to get involved and remain uninformed, but that would have to wait. He and Sakura had come to the digital world with a specific reason in mind this time, and there wasn't really any point to just sitting around waiting for Arya to go away. She hadn't been forcefully brought to this world as Ryusuke and the other kid had been, which left some room for relief in Ryusuke's mind - if she hadn't been dragged here upon obtaining her digivice, chances were she wouldn't follow, at least not right away.

"We should get moving, though. The mist should clear a little ways up from what I can remember when I saw the mountain from the desert and Toy Town, but we still need to find a safe way up." Ryusuke said after a moment, lowering his line of sight and once again looking over what they could see of the mountain and concluding once again that they wouldn't be able to find a way up where they currently were - while the bag may not have been as heavy as it looked based on Sakura's testimony, it was still bulky. Careful not to cross into the screen's field of view, Ryusuke moved along the edge of the clearing to where Monodramon waited in the brush, glancing back to see if Skaura intended to follow before shrugging his way into the foliage.

[anima]

<sub>As everyone else backed away from the monitor, Gaomon followed suit. She however, didn't understand why Ryusuke and the others were so concerned. If she had a digivice, that meant her partner likely wouldn't be too far behind, and so long as she had a partner to protect her, it wouldn't be that much of a problem for her to tag along right? Though on further thought, Gaomon realized her partner might turn out to be a fool like Coronamon. That would just hinder their progress, and that was the last thing they needed.

Sakura stared at Ryusuke. He seemed shocked by all this. How shocked could he be though? He himself had received his own partner and digivice. It wasn't that farfetched for it to happen to his cousin as well. She guessed he was concerned for his relative. She worried about Ryutaro too being all tied up in this. This was such a huge mess to deal with, and he was anything but mature enough to recognize the dangers the digital world had to offer. She swallowed the sinking feeling she had. Ryutaro was safe and sound in his bed, probably wouldn't be awake for hours.

"Sounds good." Sakura said when Ryusuke finally snapped to. She was eager to get moving, though she wondered if Arya would end up following them. She had a digivice after all, and even just accidentally pointing it in the right direction could force her into the digital world. Unfortunately time was wasting and they couldn't exactly wait around for her to go away either. So off they went.

Sakura followed Ryusuke along the edge of the clearing into the surrounding brush. Gaomon followed close behind her, alert for signs of an impending threat, though fortunately the area seemed quiet enough. "So... How's things with school? You a part of any clubs?" She asked, not desiring for their march to be a silent one.</sub>

[yagami]

Continuing to push through the dense brush ahead of him and more or less relying exclusively on the sound of Monodramon moving ahead of him to guide himself through what would otherwise be blind movement, Ryusuke began wondering exactly what he'd gotten himself into by deciding to climb Infinity Mountain. Now that he'd actually began thinking about the finer points of his project he had no idea exactly how he intended to get himself up to the upper parts of the mountain - if their first look at the base of it was any indication along with what he'd seen of it from a distance, it was incredibly steep, dangerously so, easily to the point that Ryusuke was starting to think he probably should have brought climbing gear along with them.... that is, if he knew where to get such gear. Still, Monodramon seemed comfortable enough with the idea, although that in and of itself was somewhat strange - the little dragon had been incredibly nervous when Ryusuke had started climbing the buildings in Toy Town, so he didn't understand exactly what had brought on the change in the digimon. As they continued to move Ryusuke nearly stopped when he heard something besides footsteps, taking a moment to realize that the person who'd come with him was speaking to him - having been so wrapped up in his thoughts he'd both forgotten she'd been there, in part thanks to the isolating foliage around them.

"Pretty good, although it's been a pain in the ass catching up from the work I missed." Ryusuke said, reminded once again of his recent forced stay in the digital world - a rather eye opening experience, albeit not an entirely pleasant one. "And I never really got into clubs, never really found any I actually liked for a while. Only one I enjoyed and ended up joining was the school system's martial arts club."

Moving to once again keep pressing on through the dense underbrush, Ryusuke wondered for a moment why Sakura wanted to know something like that, especially when it had nothing to do with the task at hand. Curiosity? She was from the same high school that he was, so it wouldn't have been too hard to figure out, it wasn't like she had needed to ask him. Shifting his focus back to what he could hear of Monodramon ahead of him, it wasn't until a few moments later that Ryusuke understood that Sakura was simply trying to make small talk - while Ryusuke's people skills admittedly sucked, he at least understood that most other people felt uncomfortable with dead silence, or at least he did after a few seconds of thinking about it. His time spent with Monodramon and Renamon had more or less been spent in relative quiet, with them only speaking when actually needed, and Misaka.... well, that was Misaka, she tended to talk a lot and up until Monodramon popped up in his life she'd more or less been the only real friend Ryusuke had up to that point besides Hanako, and he was usually so wrapped up in his own little world that talking to him usually meant a good deal of effort. The only other people in his life were pretty much just his dad and Arya, and neither were really ever home at the same time he was anyways.

"Actually, I'm a bit curious. How did you and Gaomon meet?" Ryusuke asked after a moment, projecting his voice back over his shoulder and back towards the pair behind him. It was something that Ryusuke had been genuinely curious about, too, especially given the recent events and that he'd never thought to ask Hanako or any of the other digidestined he'd met up until then. Besides, the more he knew about it the easier it'd be to keep Arya from getting mixed up in all of this.

[anima]

<sub>Sakura continued to follow, stepping carefully among the foliage. Occasionally she'd get scratched by a hidden branch, or her skirt or bag managing to get caught on something, causing Sakura more irritation with her clothing. Maybe this bag was a bit too bulky. She mentally slapped herself, she was trying to be prepared here, but Ryusuke had said large mountain, and she was thinking something rocky... So cutting down on the bulk of her bag to cut down on the difficulty of getting through foliage hadn't crossed her mind.

Sakura nodded sympathetically as Ryusuke explained his school situation. This certainly was another peril with their excursions to the digital world. Getting unintentionally trapped here for long periods of time was no joke. "How did you explain your week long absence to your family? To school?" Sakura asked curiously. She didn't know what she'd tell her Mom or Dad if she ended up in the digital world for longer than a few hours without explanation. They'd be so upset if she was gone for days and days without explanation.

"Martial arts club..." Sakura repeated thoughtfully. Unfortunately, between school work, soccer games and cross country meets, plus everything being a digidestined threw on top of that, she didn't have time for any more clubs. Still, learning martial arts did seem like something good to learn. Something that could be really useful here. "Wish I had time for something else, but I'm already part of the junior soccer team and cross country clubs. Maybe you could teach me some moves some time?"

When the question of how she and Gaomon met was raised, Sakura tilted her head. Wasn't it the same for everybody? She was only aware of one way digimon met their partners, and it was what happened to herself, Ryutaro, and apparently Kazai as well. She thought it was the norm, so she didn't think anyone would have a different story. "Well, my brother's computer was acting weird, and then she just kind of came out of it along with my digivice." Sakura answered simply. "Anything different happen with you and Monodramon?"

Gaomon in the meantime followed close behind Sakura, helping her out with a few snags here and there. She too agreed that Sakura hadn't entirely thought this too, but couldn't quite blame her too much, having waited until the last second to mention her concerns about what she had brought. "Sakura, purhaps we could hide some of the stuff you brought and come back to it later if we need it?" Gaomon suggested after once again tugging Sakura free of a branch.

Sakura frowned, but nodded. "Yeah... Need to ditch this bag. I wasn't thinking enough apparently." said Sakura. She looked around, pondering where they could possibly hide it. It was her own stuff mostly, and replaceable, though she'd still rather it not get lost or stolen. Unfortunately you couldn't ensure one didn't happen without risking the other happening. "Where could we hide it?"</sub>