Chapter Two: Chasing of the Shadows

Sabirdramon, ever the watcher, stood quietly in the shadows of her home. The place between worlds was always quiet to her ears and it suited her quite well. A thin metal claw tapped her back. Sabirdramon turned her large head and looked down on the robotic shadow creature behind her. "Depthmon," she said bluntly. "What'd you want?"

The shadow Digimon gave a hollow laugh. "I want the same thing you do," he said dryly. "More hearts to devour."

"Of course," Sabirdramon nodded. "That's what we're here for..."

Depthmon scratched the back of his neck ruefully. "Borne out of greed and hatred, feeding on hearts to live until death when the gatekeeper comes," he murmured. "Well, that damned Vamdemon did say that was all that we were good for."

Sabirdramon looked over her beak, peering into the darkness at a faint light. The gateway of a world, what world she didn't care, there was sure to be more prey and a feast to be had wherever the gate led. "Be that way," Sabirdramon said. "I'm going hunting."

Slamming his flipper-like tail on the hard ground, Depthmon stopped Sabirdramon. "Hear that?" he asked. "Two young humans...They seem to be lost... Oh? Two Digimon, too? It looks to be our lucky day, Sabirdramon."

Indeed, Sabirdramon could hear and faintly see the outlines of four shapes. "Hm... Male, too, if their voices are anything to go one... Young, strong..." Her voice trailed off.

-

They had told Lilithmon to stay until they came back with Hikari. She wasn't like the other shadow Digimon Vamdemon 'summoned' to devour the hearts of the seven chosen girls. No, she wouldn't wait patiently until they came back. She couldn't wait that long, her hunger was far too strong. No wall, no prison, not even a portal to a different world could hold a shadow Digimon prisoner for long. As Lilithmon quickly proved, escaping from the world created for Vamdemon's plans posed no trouble for her.

She had followed Ivan, Nanami, and Kouki slowly and quietly when they started searching for Hikari. Lilithmon only needed to know which world her prey was in... If they tried to stop her, well, they had hearts after all.

Lilithmon was coming and she was hungry.

-

"I hope you're satisfied," Mercuremon said, smiling slightly at Ranamon. Ranamon, who only had to distract Tohma and Masaru until Kurata's henchmen got to the window, had retreated when the battle started to tip in her opponent's favor.

"Bah," she replied, rubbing her sore back. "You know I was supposed to go easy on them. I could've squished them easily enough."

Leaning against the smooth stone wall, Mercuremon gave a low chuckle. "Oh?" he asked. "Is that why you retreated before their Digimon even evolved?"

Ranamon rolled her eyes in response. "Yes, Mercuremon," she said, trying hard to keep from snapping at Mercuremon. "I had to, you know that."

"But of course, my dearest Ranamon," Mercuremon said, quite amused by it all. "I understand perfectly well."

"Just don't tell that Arachnemon or Nanami, they wouldn't let me live it down. Hah, those two nitwits couldn't understand a planned retreat if you glued the meaning to their forehead."

"Indeed," Mercuremon replied, still amused at the thought of his companion retreating on her own.

"Humph. I feel so loved."

-

Izumi was in a foul temper. She didn't really know the real reason why she was angry, the only thing that she just was.

Ruki.

When everything had seemed to be going well enough, that coward vanished. Yoshino and Chiaki agreed that she probably escaped. Izumi, on the other hand, was under the belief that Ruki was secretly working with them.

Ruki.

That... That... Izumi didn't have a word in her vocabulary for what she thought of Ruki.

Her reflection... It looked strange to her... Maybe she was tired? No, it wasn't that...The room was so small... More room... She needed more room... More room...

The window... It was small but it would serve her purpose well enough.

Chiaki and Yoshino would never truly find out what happened to the two other girls that had been captured before them.

Short chapter, I know. I'm sorry but I wanted to get another chapter out before Hikari and Taichi are properly introduced.