How can I possibly find the right words to properly explain, to tell the tale of how I came to be here, without sounding like a crazy woman? Here, in the sunny land of Sunakagure? Suna, of all places. A land that should not exist, except among printed paper and in the moving stories of films. And yet, here I was. Here I am. The words I had uttered, all in jest...could they truly have worked? Could they truly have found some sort of power, among the verbs and vowels, so plain and normal?

I stood now before the huge wood - solid wood, mind you, and heavily warded- gates of the village. How did this happen? It was not real, the words were not real! And yet, unless I was suddenly and completely insane, and my eyes saw nothing but tricks, the it was real. The thick wood gates, the huge, ominous sand walls climbing up to a good 50+ feet on either side of me... it was even more breathtaking in person.

I fell to my knees. The sand was cool on my bare knees. The sun was in the process of setting, on the opposite side of the village, so I was blanketed in the cold shadow. I shivered. My brain was still trying to accept what was around me, what had happened. Shock, I thought numbly as I fell fully to the grainy ground, losing control of myself. It must be shock... Despite this brilliant revelation, I found I had no further control of my body than before. My body began to shake, starting with my legs and working up to my stomach, chest, and arms. It was violent, and painful, and yet I couldn't stop myself. My teeth clattered together. "HUUUUUUUUHAAAAAAAA..." I tried to suck in the oxygen my brain badly wanted, but found myself hyperventilating so badly, I just couldn't. "HHHHUUUUUUHHHHHS...UUUUUUUHHHHS..."

Vaguely, I registered what I thought were voices. Human voices. Of course human voices. What other voices to be... Would... To be... There... here... here...

..."Ehs dluohs eb enif..."

"...tsuj llams..."

"...amuart..."

More voices. But they made no sense. Gibberish... Asian-sounding, but gibberish... Japanese?

I coughed, eyes still closed. The one cough quickly turned to hacking. I was so thirsty! I felt like I was choking on the raw dryness that was my mouth and throat! "HUUUUUUUUUUU!" Gasping an awful, long, and shuddering breath, I rolled violently from the bed, panicking. Hands grabbed me, rough and calloused, and shoved me back onto the bed. Well, it seemed like a bed. It was soft, but not so welcoming considering my throat felt like the inside of a dry oak-tree.

"Retaw!" Someone was shouting, and suddenly my head was forced back, cracked lips opened - again by force - and water was poured gently in. There is way to describe the nearly euphoric feel of cool, clean WATER flowing down your throat, coating your mouth, after nearly dying of dehydration. Well, nearly dying is a bit of an exaggeration, but it certainly felt like it at the time. Whomever was holding the cup began pouring too much now, and I began to choke once more, this time on the very thing I'd been choking to have before!

The cup was yanked away. A hand, calloused yet gentle, wiped the spilled water and spit from my chin. "Shhhhhh..." They hushed me gently. I took another shuddering breath, and opened my eyes, with some difficulty. Blinking rapidly, the room slowly came into a blurred, and then clear, focus. Hovering above me was a man, not young but not old either. He had a round face, half covered by a white mask. His eyes, warm and black, smiled when he caught my stare. "Os, erouy evila, huh?"

My mouth forms an odd little 'O', opening and closing as I struggle to find a proper way to respond to someone I don't even understand. Open and closed, open and closed. Then finally, "Pardon...? What?"

The man's warm eyes frown then, and he turns to his right, shouting indistinguishable orders at someone. A small pen-light appears, and suddenly he is forcing my eyes open with his fingers, and shining the light into them with the other hand. Pain sears through my eyes and skull at the sudden, unwanted light. I shove the light away, pushing against his hands as he tries to force me back into lying down. "NO!" I screamed then. "Let me go! No!" Struggling against a man very obviously stronger than I, I continue screaming, clawing, hitting. Anything to get away. This isn't real. This isn't real. This isn't real...

A sharp twinge at the back of my neck.

The blackness once more.