The heat was unbearable at first, but running certainly made it much worse. When she realized how close they were, she had fled on foot. She was within reach of her destination, she couldn't give up now, and she couldn't let herself be taken prisoner again. She could hear them now, gaining on her, catching up despite her initial lead.
Her foot slid on the loose sand, and she plummeted face first into the grains. The scarf she had wrapped so carefully around her face to hide her pale skin did little to protect her from the harsh ground. Ignoring her now scratched face and hands, she desperately tried pulling herself up.
I have to run- I'm almost there
I can't let them take me. Not now- not here.
A blue eye shot open as a kunai embedded itself by her head, and she noticed her loose desert skirts were pinned into the sand by another kunai.
The laughing reached her ears first. Teasing her for her failed escape, how she thought she could escape what was always coming for her. Tears filled her visible eye; she didn't bother to turn around to face them., to see the knives thrown directly at her.
She flinched, prepared to feel the sting of her flesh being split open, but it never came.
Behind her was a wall of sand, suspended as if shielding her. The kunai fell to the ground with the shield as a figure walked in front of her.
The girl pushed herself up a bit more, looking to the man who just protected her, and now seeing two other newcomers flank her sides. One was a male wearing facial paint and a black hood, the other a blonde woman carrying a large fan. The boy in front crossed his arms, looking at her assailants.
"What are mist village ninja doing in this desert, chasing this woman?"