"Tai... Tai...," muttered a familiar voice trying to rouse the young boy from his sleep.  Even though the source of the voice was near it sounded as if it was far away.  Tai rolled over onto his stomach and buried his face into his soft, fluffy pillow.

            "Come on, Tai!  Wake up!" cried the same voice, large hands rocking him gently.  Tai moaned and opened his eyes.  What he saw snapped him awake in a flash.  He wasn't sleeping on a bed and what he had buried his face in wasn't a pillow.  It was more of a pillar, a pillar of clouds!  Tai yelped and jumped up.  He was surprised to note he didn't sink through the clouds as he stood on them.  Agumon stood next to him apparently he was the one who had aroused him.

            " 'Bout time you woke up!" complained Yolie who sat on the clouds only a few feet away.  Hawkmon sat in her lap, appearing quite content even in these odd surroundings.  Tai looked around at the other faces to see who had also been pulled in his direction.  He was happy to note Sora and Biyomon were there.  There was also Ryo and his Monodramon, Henry and his Terriermon, J.P, Zoe, and, of course, Yolie and Hawkmon.  They were all wide-awake.

            Tai then looked around at his surroundings.  The land around him, if you dare call it land, was made up entirely of clouds.  Giant gears were littered about the land and were rotating constantly.

            "This land...," muttered Tai turning in a complete 360 degree angle.  "It's... so weird."

            "I must agree," said Zoe.  "I've seen some weird things but this takes the cake!"

            "And the whole dinner, too," added J.P.

            "This isn't anything," said Ryo catching their attention.  "Wait until night-time.  Then it will really start to get creepy."  The others shivered at this.

            "Well, I don't like this!" complained Sora standing up.

            "Neither do I, but we have to do it," replied Ryo turning to her with a serious expression.  "As that Patamon on the train said, 'When you are summoned by the Digimon High Lords the only thing you can do is come forth.'  I've learned through experience if the High Lords command you, the best thing you can do is comply with their orders."

            "But did Zhuqiaomon have to be Suzie's Lord?!" demanded Henry with an anger he rarely let get to him.

            "Geez, Henry," mumbled his Digimon.  "Moumantai...."

            "HOW CAN I TAKE IT EASY?!?!" demanded Henry.  "THE MEANEST, GROUCHIEST, GRUMPIEST DIGIMON LORD HAS MY LITTLE SISTER!"

            "Calm down, Henry," whispered Ryo as he put his hands on Henry's shoulders.  Henry was breathing hard but he seemed to be regaining control over himself.

            "Kari...," muttered Tai, looking up into the deep blue emptiness that covered them.

            "I bet the faster we finish this quest, the faster we'll get you back to your sisters," suggested Yolie with a shrug.

            "That's right!" gasped J.P.  "We need to get them little Triangle-thingies to the Temple of Azulongmon!"

            "But we're also going to have to use his influence or he won't get power over the Digidestined of Ages," reminded Sora.  Her face then clouded with confusion.  "Though, I don't know how he expects us to use it."

            "Well, we should all try to use it," stated Tai with his old determination back in his voice.  "Azulongmon is the most awesome of the Digimon High Lords!  If any are to get the power, he should!"

            "I agree, Tai," said Agumon smiling up at him.  "Azulongmon seems to be a really nice guy."

            "Not to mention big and powerful," muttered Hawkmon with a slight grimace.  The others re-guarded him with confusion for a few moments before understanding his words.  They wouldn't want to get on Azulongmon's bad side either.... Did Azulongmon even have a bad side?

            "Hey, Tai, are you going to crush those Triangles or are we going to deliver them?" asked J.P. with a chuckle.  Tai didn't know what he was talking about at first but then noticed the three Triangles of Power were clutched in his hand.  He loosened the death-grip he had been using to hold onto the triangles and gave a low whistle when he noticed they had almost sliced through his thick white gloves.

            Tai looked at the odd blue Triangles curiously but noticed nothing special about them.  They were just... glowing blue Triangles.  Still, he felt something... something that told him they were much more than they seemed.

            "It's no use standing around here," said Yolie as she stood up, dusting off her pants.  "We might as well start heading for the Temple."

            "But where is the Temple?" asked Zoe.  Henry wrenched his shoulders from Ryo's grasp and grabbed his hair in irritation, trying to pull it out.

            "They can't just expect us to know where it is!  How can they just put us out here and tell us to find something when we don't even know the general direction it's in!?!?" yelled Henry through gritted teeth.

            "I'm not so sure about that, Henry," said Ryo in a gentle tone.  "Don't you remember where we found the Digimon Sovereign's Lair?  It was at the highest field in the Digital World.  All we have to do is find our way up to the highest layer of clouds and we'll find it."

            "Um, there's one problem with your theory, Ryo," said Henry softly before bursting out.  "THESE CLOUDS ARE FLATTER THAN RIKA'S SARCASTIC TONE!"

            "Gee, is he always this dramatic?" Biyomon asked Monodramon in a low voice.

            "Only on good days," replied Monodramon with a smirk.

            "Then we'll go out looking for cumulus clouds!" yelled Tai getting fed up with all Henry's yelling.  Everyone turned to Tai who was now very irritated and ready to leave.  "I don't care if we have to just pick a direction and walk over the edge of the world, let's just GO!"

            "Alright then...," muttered J.P. looking up at the sky but he couldn't find the sun to tell him which direction was north.

            "Um, this is a problem," muttered Henry as followed J.P's gaze.  "How are we supposed to travel in one direction without some type of navigation?  We could end up walking in circles!"

            "Maybe the sun's gone because it's night time?" suggested Biyomon.

            "No, if it was night time the sky would be completely-" started Ryo but just then a wave of darkness filled took over and there was no blue sky to be found, "... black."

            "Ooooooh, great!" sighed Terriermon.  "Just what we needed."

            "And, to think," muttered Henry softly, looking over the vast cloudly fields, his eyes full of wistful weariness, "this is only the beginning."

*          *            *

Baihumon's Area