A rather super-long-nah-not-really authors note of sorts:

No, I'm clearly not dead but very much alive and because of it, I will like to apologize for this very late update – should had been uploaded a month ago but life happened, heh. Anyhow, as its been a while, let me give you a brief summary of what has happened so far, well, more like a sentence really... I feel its been that long, so might as well!

So far,

Ariadna, a girl from our world suddenly wakes up to find herself in the middle of nowhere – a forest, actually. Lost and confused, she finds shelter in an abandoned campsite where she finds a cloak to shield herself from the cold. The following morning and ready to leave in search for civilization, she finds herself prey to a stranger whose language she's unable to understand. After being attacked, she flees only to be chased further deeper into the forest by the same man. With the belief she had lost the man, she finally gives herself a moment to relax but that moment is short-lived as something else chases after her – fortunately for her, she knocks herself out before finding out what it was. In the next chapter, we get a different perspective of the situation from Sai about the strange girl with the Akatsuki cloak...

Well, that was certainly more than a sentence – here's the next chapter, finally!

VI: Glances

Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure.
The fearful are caught as often as the bold.

- Helen Keller

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

My senses tingled as they woke me up from my deep slumber; I could feel the hard pressure of the ground beneath me, particularly on my right hip as I laid on my side. I tried to open my eyes but my eyelids felt heavy so I decided to keep them closed. I moved my head and made myself comfortable only to gasp when I felt the stiff muscles on my neck, I groaned as I let the pain subside. I must had slept on my side for godknowshowmany hours with my neck awkwardly positioned so as to strain my neck muscles. I finally achieved in opening my eyes and when I did, I expected to see the familiar daylight. Instead of coming upon the white walls of my room and the soft glow of sunlight streaming through my curtains, I saw nothing.

Literally.

Everything was pitched black.

I furrowed my brows; how could that be? It was then when my ears picked up on the sound of water dripping somewhere around me; I whipped my head around, and a bit too soon when I felt those sore muscles acting up. I waited for a couple of seconds as I held my breath – I could hear the faint sound of what must be rain.

Rain?

"Wha–" I abruptly stopped.

My throat was parched – I couldn't say a thing without feeling a strange, prickly sensation in my throat. I tried to lick my lips but that was a useless act. I tried to swallow and what I could managed had been painful. With a sudden realization, I lifted my head and ignored the cries from my painful muscles.

I been running... a man was after me.. I-I...no... He was no longer after me. Something else, it was something else. Snakes... Snakes... I tripped.. and then I woke up in this dark place.

A terrible pain shot through the side of my forehead and instinctively I raised my hand and stopped abruptly halfway. I could not see it in the dark but I could feel something bound my wrists together; curiously enough, it should had been something I should had felt but went without notice. I was still on my side and partially laid on top of my right arm; I could still freely move about my fingers but it was no use. The pain on my forehead did not subside like that of my neck muscles; I could only assume it was the place I, well, knocked myself out. As much as I wanted to laugh, I unwillingly let out a whimper.

My lips trembled and my breath came in short; the last thing I wanted happened. I been caught, tied and as much as I wanted to make a sarcastic comment about it – thankfully – had not been gagged. It didn't matter, I told myself as I felt my stomach tie itself into cold knots. The pain on my forehead was now the least of my worries.

I rolled onto my back with my eyes fixated to the dark ceiling, a ceiling I was positive was there. By doing this, I partially relieved the pressure on my right arm but my relief was soon overtaken by a new strange sensation on my chest. I couldn't figure whether it was the soreness that lingered by being tackled or something else entirely different. Clearly, it had to be the first option since my chest hadn't hurt while I was on my side. As my bound wrists rested on top of it, the pressure persisted, so I awkwardly rested them on my stomach. Bad move. The moment I placed them on my stomach, a sharp pain rushed up my nerves as if a dozen needles pierced my flesh, instinctively I quickly removed my bound wrists.

Wha-what the hell...?!

I wasn't hit on my stomach and much less stabbed but the effect of bodily harm was there – with nothing at my disposal to view this unexplainable injury, all I could rely was on my senses. And they informed me I had sustained a new injury while I was out. Why and the how would had to wait as there were more important things at hand – no pun intended.

As I laid there quietly with my wrists resting on my lower abdomen, I now heard the steady rain. The splitter-splatter of raindrops hitting against the roof surrounded me and I was momentarily absorbed by the rhythmic sound it produced. I was startled out of my reverie when a thunderous sound shook around me and no sooner did lighting followed. The brief second of brightness was enough to take in what surrounded me... which wasn't much.

With the little I saw, I was in a room – no surprise there – with a small window way up high by the ceiling where the flash of lightening streamed in. Other than that, I could tell it was a wooden room – or a shed of some sort as it was empty. I rolled myself to my left and after curling my hand into a fist, I knocked on the floor. Wooden planks. Everything was made of wood with the exception of the window, how this knowledge could help – I had no clue. Had I not been tied up on the floor, it would had been impossible to escape through the window and much less reach it – it was far too high.

As my legs were -thankfully- left untied, I used them to slide myself into one of the four walls and let me tell you that was no easy task. Other than hitting the top of my head against one of these walls, my legs were incredibly sore. Still on my back, I tried to figure a way to get myself upright. The only thing that came to mind was doing a sit-up, which should be an easy thing to do, right? Yet my throat desired water, my stomach growled for food. Food equaled energy and that was the one thing I lacked. Instinctively I knew I wouldn't have the same energy to run away as I did earlier today – or was it yesterday? Why bother? Using all my strength, I pushed myself into a sitting position.

I was out of breath by the time I leaned against the wall. While I acknowledged the lack of energy, it unnerved me tremendously how serious I was out of it. If it had taken a lot from me to sit myself upright against a wall, could you imagine how much I would need to run away from this? To fight off- I let out a trembling sigh. Sure, everything was stacked against me but no, there was still something I could do. What? I had no idea but there was something. There had to be something... I had to get myself to stand instead of sitting there for the bastard to come in and... I felt an all-too familiar sensation building in my chest and in my throat as I sensed my eyes watering at the thought of... "No," I croaked, pushing that dreadful image away. Unknowingly, I must had bitten my lower lip when I tasted something metallic against my tongue.

"Something to drink," I uttered in-between pants as I stood awkwardly against the wall. Awkwardly in the sense my legs were weak and there was the possibility of them giving out under my weight. Another thunder and lightening crossed my senses as I struggled myself onto my feet and unlike last time, I saw the outline of a door across from where I stood.

Still wearing the dreadful cloak, I tentatively took a step forward by placing my weight on my right foot. While not weak, my leg was unsteady and that was not necessarily a good thing. I didn't care – I wanted to get to that door. Thankfully the room was empty, so I wouldn't be bumping or tripping in the darkness; the distance from the door to where I stood was not that far – what could happen?

Five... Six... Sev – my legs suddenly gave out from underneath me and I crashed down onto my knees before I toppled over onto my back. The sequence of falling on my knees was as painful as hitting the back of my head. The pain on my forehead I had managed to ignore had suddenly flared up and I couldn't help but cry out in pain. After I let out a string of obscenities as I awkwardly felt around my forehead with my bound wrists, I suddenly stopped when I heard something other than rain.

Sounds.

I don't know how I did it but unlike the first time where it took me longer than normal, this time around I managed to sit-up in such a short amount of time. Of course, I would had preferred to had crawled away and hide instead of sitting in the middle of the room but what choice did I have? I could only move so fast with my bound wrists, plus being in the dark didn't help either. Blindly, I stared ahead where I last saw the door.

Click.

There was nothing I could do, nothing physically possible as I sat there exposed to whatever was coming. The only thing I was able to control were my feelings and if this predator preyed on my fear, well, that I would not give. Oh, so easier said than done! My stomach tied itself into tinier knots, my hands clammy as my fear of the unknown was rearing its head – even my breath I had to control if I didn't want to suffer a blown-out panic attack. As I awkwardly sat on a position that was not comfortable, I tried to move myself around only to end up sitting on top of my legs – thankfully, I did not toppled to my side.

"I tnes drow ot–"

I honestly expected to hear a familiar language, someone who I could at least speak to and who I could understand. The only relief, if you could call it that, was the fact the voice was different from the person I last encountered. It did not sound as intimidating as that guy, in fact – it was soft but I pegged it that to the fact that he was whispering in the dark. With the door opened as I could hear the soft rain from outside, I expected to see my captor but all I could managed to see was the dark outline of his figure.

"Uoy tsum eb a wen tiurcer rof eht Ikustaka."

"Where am I?" I asked as firmly as I could even as my voice was evidently hoarse.

The footsteps that had began suddenly stopped. "Tahw did uoy tsuj yas?"

I couldn't help but let out an audible scoff – that language again. Asian sounding for sure, Chinese, Japanese or Vietnamese, they sounded so much alike to my ears. "Why me, huh? What's with the language? Surely you can understand what I'm saying." It was very unlikely I been kidnapped and taken to a different country – I wasn't that important. "Wherever you're from you must know of English – how the hell will you guys demand ransom if that's what you're seeking?!"

"I ma ton railimaf htiw tahw er'uoy gniyas sselnu ti si a egnarts mrof fo msicitsym - ton a ustuj, spahrep?" This soft-spoken individual continued in a nonchalant manner as if nothing was out of the norm with our communication.

"Why the hell do you keep speaking to me as if I know your damn fucking language?!" I screamed, a scream that pierced my parched throat as I cried out again. I swallowed whatever saliva I had to get some relief but it was useless – I had gone without water for nearly three days. A sudden onset of dizziness overcame me, the kind that usually led to nausea and the wonderful aftermath. How the hell can that be possible with nothing in my stomach?!

What happened next could only be described as a blur – well, not technically considering there was no light source to see it happen but the statement still stands. One second I was surrounded by darkness with this unidentifiable person and the next a flash of light blinded me – so bright it was I had to bring up my curled fists to shield my eyes from the sudden assault. With my eyes firmly closed, I heard someone else speak as they entered the room. This was completely different from the other one but it still belonged to that of a male; his voice was not deep but there was definitely a tone of superiority to it.

I slowly opened my eyes, letting themselves adjust to the room's new light. Instinctively, I searched for the source of it and found it belonged to the oil lamp that hanged on a hook close to the door. Was that the thing that flashed so brightly? I could had sworn it had come from a flash grenade, not that I'd been around one...

With a second person present, the two of them spoke amongst themselves and with more than just curiosity motivating me, I whipped my head to see them. Just as before with the man in the forest, I could not help but stare at what I saw. One - I was far off from being in an Asian country because neither of the two looked remotely Asian despite the language. Two - there was so much to see...

The second voice belonged to the normal-looking one out of the two – well, as close to normal as possible; his clothing reminded me that of a paramilitary uniform, dark colors and wearing a dark olive-green vest with plenty of front pockets. It was his headgear that stood out, gray in color it framed his face; right over his forehead stood out a type of metal plate with a strange symbol engraved on it. Other than that headgear, he looked normal – granted, I could not see much of his face.

Unlike this second person, the first one – the one who tried to speak with me earlier was definitely different. He could not be any older than I was, and even under the glow of the oil lamp, I could tell he was either very light skinned or pale with dark short hair. Not only was it easy to see that he was slender in physique – thanks to the sight of his midriff – but his clothes was something else. What type of shirt was that anyway? One sleeveless while the other one was not and those gloves... I would understand if they were fingerless but this was just... was it a costume? Would make sense with the first person dressed in the getup he was in. Just like the newcomer, he also wore a type of material over his forehead, metal plate and all.

I must had gawked at him longer than normal as he turned to look at me, which was enough of an action for the two of them to stop speaking. I furrowed my eyebrows – I was really not the intimidating type, I believe – and turned away from his blank stare. That action alone was clearly not a deterrent for anyone as I heard a pair of footsteps approached me; no need to look up to see who it was as his pants alone gave the newcomer away. Standing before me but still far out from my reach, I had a feeling he wanted me to look up – not bothering to do so, I fixed my stare past his legs.

I heard him say something and I couldn't help but rolled my eyes; he spoke once more, longer than the first time but unlike it there was a question to his tone. The other one responded and his voice had not changed much from when we were in the dark. I looked towards him and caught him staring, I shot him a frown and looked up towards the newcomer. If there was something movies had taught me, it was this – never show your fear outright despite trembling from within.

"Why do you even bother? Huh? Surely you know by now that we can't even understand one another – not that I would want to considering how everything is going." I said with what I hoped was a steady voice despite my hoarseness. I caught him exchanging a glance with the other boy – was he confirming something?

Despite the lack of knowledge of what was to come, I had to prevent whatever it could be. The how, the what I did not kno– "Water," I finally voiced; killing two birds with one stone, this made perfect sense. "I need water." I declared confidently as I stared up at the man. There was something intimidating by the way he just stood there, observing me as I had done with them. I inwardly sighed – there would be no way to express my need by using my vocals, I had to find some other way. Then it dawned on me... Of course! Since my wrists were bound together, all I needed to do was interlock my fingers together and stick out my thumb, which in turn would form them into a strange looking sippy cup. In slow gesture, I tipped my thumbs towards my lips – the signal couldn't be any clearer.

The newcomer turned away and said something to the other; I turned and caught sight of the first one pulling something from a pouch that I had not seen before. With a flick from his wrist, he threw a container of some sort towards the newcomer who easily caught it in his hand. He said something as he held out the container towards me. Better yet, it appeared to me he was handing this container to me as if I could just reach out and grasp it. He shook its contents; there was no denying it, there was liquid inside. I looked at it then up at him; he shook the container again. I nodded; I'm assuming he was asking if I wanted it.

Tentatively, I outstretched my hands to receive it as he uncapped the bottle before placing it between my hands. I awkwardly held it, hoping it won't tumble and spill its content, but it was then as I held it inches away from my mouth that my instincts took over and I just no longer cared if I spilled any of it on me.

I drank it as if there was no tomorrow.

AN:

So there you have it – I stuck with keeping the "strange" language backwards to make it, well, foreign looking, hopefully it wasn't so hard to decipher what was said. As the story progresses, I am aware that wouldn't be the best route to use – so I might change it, I'll see.

Now I'll leave you with a Question {In the last couple of chapters, I been posing questions as a way to both get to know the reader and interact with them. Of course it's all voluntarily - you don't need to play if you don't want to.}.

What is worse than death?

Until next time!